Their RoyalHighnesses Crown Prince Alexander II and Crown Princess Katherine hosted aworking breakfast at the White Palace for the representatives of Britishbusinesses in Serbia on Thursday.

Guests were addressed by HRH Crown Prince Alexander II, H.E. Mr. Stephen JohnWordsworth, HM Ambassador to Serbia, Mr. Radovan Jelasic, Governor of theNational Bank of Serbia, Mr. Dusan Filipovic, Executive Director of theBritish-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and Mr. DusanBabac, member of the Privy Council.
 
HRH Crown Prince Alexander II greeted the guests and emphasized: "I ampleased that we have gathered here at the White Palace, in a friendly andunofficial atmosphere, to discuss very important topics, such as Serbianeconomic development, foreign and domestic investments and improvement ofbusiness cooperation in general. I am willing to offer you my assistance andsupport to improve the situation further in all of these areas".
 
H.E. Mr. Stephen John Wordsworth, HM Ambassador to Serbia, thanked the RoyalCouple for hosting this event and pointed out that trade and investment linksshow a growing trend, despite the setback of the global crisis. 
 
“That is only likely to grow as Serbia continues along the EU accession path,as we have seen elsewhere in Central and South East Europe.  Althoughinvestment presence of United Kingdom based companies is modest in this market,several British companies are actively pursuing investment opportunities in Serbia(in field of spas, electronics, renewable energy ...)”, the Ambassadorsaid. 

The Governor of the Central Bank of Serbia gave an excellent presentation“Macroeconomic challenges in Serbia” and answered questions.
 
The United Kingdom ranks in the top 10 investors in Serbia with cumulative 2000– 2006 investments amounting to over US$ 307 million. The overall bilateraltrade amounted to US$ 316.9 million in year 2009.  
 
At the working breakfast at the White Palace, there were representatives ofmore than 100 companies, including the largest British and internationalcompanies in Serbia.

Office of HRH Crown Prince Alexander II