The French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (CCIFS) was founded in 2005, with the mission to animate the business community and enable its networking through various activities, as well as to provide operational support to French companies to find partners, clients, suppliers and associates in Serbia.

Today, the Chamber is an important factor in building French-Serbian bilateral relations, which have been especially intensified since 2011, supported by official visits of the highest level.

Hospitals ready for the future” – CCIFS conference, photo: CCIFS

The Director of the French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce (CCIFS), Ms. Sanja Ivanić, presented to the representatives of DIPOS the way the Chamber operates, realized activities and the way in which the members adapt to the changes during the Covid-19 pandemic. The chamber currently has over 130 members, French, Serbian, but also international companies.

In her statement, Ms. Ivanic pointed out: -We gather our members through events of various formats, from formal ones such as conferences, trainings, gala dinners and others, to informal ones such as sector clubs or the French traditional Beaujolais wine evening.

Due to the changed circumstances, in the last year, we meet only in online format to which we have adapted our activities, with the aim of making it easier for members to work in this specific context.

– As everywhere, French companies in Serbia had to change the dynamics of business and adapt to new working conditions. So far, the crisis has not had a dramatic impact on business, so there has been no mass layoffs in any of the companies. The most noticeable impact is on the operations of Belgrade Airport (VINCI Airports), where, of course, the volume of traffic has significantly decreased, but the company VINCI has continued to improve the airport infrastructure as planned. We are currently conducting the third survey regarding the impact of coronavirus on the business of our members, and we know how to better support them in order to overcome the crisis as painlessly as possible, added Ms. Ivanić, announcing socializing in the online format.

She also expressed hope that live meetings will return with accelerated vaccination.

Online job fair – French Week, photo: CCIFS

Speaking about current events and plans for the next period, Ms. Ivanić emphasized that this institution continues to work in an online format.

– With the beginning of the pandemic, we started a series of online dialogues with representatives of ministries from different sectors, with the aim of encouraging dialogue between the institutions of the Republic of Serbia and companies. In addition to this, we are working on numerous other projects, for which we get ideas through our sector clubs. Of course, we hope that with the accelerated vaccination, the time will soon come and we will meet again live – maybe at our General Assembly at the end of May, Sanja added.

By being a member of the French-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, Property management and rental company Dipos d.o.o. Belgrade , in accordance with the trends of international business, strives to further improve business processes, create a favorable business environment and achieve further development.

“Water sector and digital smart solutions for sustainable development” – CCIFS conference, photo: CCIFS

“Skills of the future” – CCIFS conference held on March 10, 2020. year, photo: CCIFS