REBEC 2024 opened – It’s not all about four apartments, there are funds as well

People in Serbia still like to invest in real estate the most, but they need to be educated that they can also invest money in funds, not just in apartments – that is the message from the opening of the REBEC 2024 conference, which is gathering professionals from the field of real estate development in Belgrade today and tomorrow.

If only 1% of the EUR 16 billion that the citizens of Serbia save in banks were invested in something else, such as funds, a new market would develop, believe the participants in the first, institutional panel, held immediately after the opening of the conference. Still, as they conclude, that requires a total change in the way of thinking and the development of financial literacy.

Boran Kerim, an entrepreneur, consultant and business advisor, reminded that there was over EUR 16 billion in deposits in Serbian banks.

– That’s a lot of money. If you take just 1% and animate people to invest in something else, such as funds, for example, you will get a new market that you can develop. The region has not progressed too far in that sense either, so we can be pioneers. In order for that to happen, we have to talk to people, explain to them that there are alternatives in the market, that an investment doesn’t just entail buying four apartments. In any case, you can’t sell an apartment as easily as shares, at a click – says Kerim.

Rick Van Heumen, the director of EREIM (Eurasian Real Estate Investment Management), points out that, in Serbia, until a few years ago, there were no funds and there was no alternative for people who wanted to invest money.

– It all came down to the purchase of the first, second, third apartment. That is slowly changing, but the biggest challenge for us is still how to explain people what they will get if they decide to invest in some other model. That is a question of raising awareness, creating trust, explaining that it is safe and that they will benefit from it just like from direct investments. In banks, there is plenty of money that is not active, which makes a profit for the banks, but doesn’t contribute to the market – warns Van Heumen.

The moderator of the panel, the financial consultant Vladimir Vasic, believes that the education should primarily be directed at younger people. He reminded of the problem of trust and the lack of stock exchange tradition. As he said, the only productive period of a stock exchange in these areas was between the two wars.

– People still remember market crashes, so young people who don’t have bad memories and a lack of trust should be attracted. For example, in the region, we still have a large percentage of people who withdraw all the money from an ATM and pay only in cash, they don’t trust cards. There’s a great task before us, to change the way of thinking – estimated Vasic.

How to attract investors

According to the moderator, 60% of all investments in the region are in Serbia. And in order for there to be even more of them, a range of preconditions needs to be met, from bureaucratic to infrastructural ones, the panelists agreed. They also unanimously estimated that, 20 years before, they had believed that Serbia would be in the EU by the present day. Although that’s not the case, it is still connected with the EU, where a third of the exports of Serbia goes, said Kerim and added that Serbia needed to integrate with the EU as much as we can.

– Serbia still has plenty to do in order to catch up with Europe. According to one survey from several years ago, the Czech Republic and Slovenia achieved 92% of the EU standards, Croatia 60-70%, and Serbia 40-50%. The statistics have not changed much since. Good things are happening, investors are coming, but if we want to attract more of them, we have to work on the infrastructure, roads, railroads – says Kerim.

He reminds that, in this field, we are competing with the world, not just the region.

– There’s Dubai, Qatar, Singapore. When the investor decides to invest, they ask an analyst to highlight 5 suitable countries for them and everything matters there, from having simple and fast processes, because nobody wants to wait for 3 months, to the tax policy. We should also see how to position ourselves in the AI revolution. The world is changing irreversibly, and that is a great potential, to see what our advantages are and to be quicker than others – says Kerim.

Van Heumen adds that Serbia needs to promote itself, because investors should be shown that Serbia is there and what it offers.

– Also, we need to work on addressing the flaws, such as the slow monetary system, where there are always problems with the paperwork – concluded Van Heumen.

REBEC 2024 is held today and tomorrow in Belgrade, where, for the 17th year in a row, the leaders of the leading companies from 40 countries have gathered. Through 24 thematic panels, they will deal with the burning issues in the fields of the development of hotel management, retail, offices, logistics, industry and apartment building, as well as all the current things in the legislation, alternative forms if financing, the influence of artificial intelligence and climatology on the development of real estate. The eKapija portal is a media sponsor of the event.

M. D.

Festlent d.o.o. Beograd

Rick Van Heumen

Boran Kerim

Vladimir Vasić

Rebec 2024

financial literacy

investments in real estate

investments in funds

what to invest in

savings