Donald Trump Jr., the son of businessman and U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, held a business dinner for entrepreneurs in Belgrade this week, amidst the U.S. election campaign.
According to Toplica Spasojević, a Serbian businessman, there were around 50 guests at the dinner, but none were from the Serbian Business Club Privrednik or the Association of Economists.
“I wasn’t invited, but my friends who were there informed me. I heard there were about 10-15 entrepreneurs from the diaspora and that Trump came to Serbia to explore the market and business climate, and that he left Serbia with very positive impressions,” Spasojević shared. According to reports from the meeting with business leaders, Trump expressed interest in investing in real estate, hotels, and digital media in Serbia.
Slavko Carić, the former chairman of Erste Bank’s Executive Board and a member of the supervisory board at the Sevojno copper mill, who attended the dinner, confirmed to Radio Free Europe that the topics discussed were “investment opportunities and the attractiveness of the business environment in the region and Serbia from the perspective of U.S. investors.”
“They discussed the similarities and differences in investment between the Southeast Europe region and the U.S., as well as the advantages of this region and how to realize the full potential of mutual business cooperation,” Carić said.
Among the guests at the dinner, in addition to Carić, were Vojin Lazarević, former owner of the Rudnap Group and former director of Aldahra from the UAE, as well as Desko Nikitović, executive president of East Point Metals Ltd and former Serbian consul in Chicago.
There were no government representatives at the dinner.
No Business Without Politics?
According to Bloomberg, Trump Jr. promised at the gathering that his father would end the war between Russia and Ukraine, and emphasized that a Trump victory would be “a great benefit” for Eastern Europe.
The eldest son of the former president also took the opportunity to ask those present for support among American voters of Serbian origin. “Call your Serbian friends, mobilize the community to vote for Trump,” he urged.
After his unofficial visit to Serbia, Trump Jr. continued to Romania, where, according to Romania TV and Bloomberg, he said that “the East can attract investor interest because Western Europe can no longer offer what it once could.”
Minić: Boost Serbia’s Ties to the West
Jelica Minić, a foreign policy expert and president of the Main Board of the European Movement in Serbia, told Bloomberg Adria that business connections are always good news.
“It seems that the influential business network of the Trump family is seriously targeting Serbia as a gateway to the Southeast European market,” Minić said.
However, if the Trump family’s interest in doing business in Serbia is primarily tied to the upcoming U.S. presidential elections and gathering the votes of Serbs living there, Minić believes there is a risk that the interest may not last long, despite the signed strategic cooperation agreement in energy and infrastructure projects.
“This interest is certainly partly linked to the anticipated lithium exploitation in Serbia, which the U.S. has been very vocal about, judging by the statements of Ambassador Hill, although the majority of Serbian citizens oppose it. We will see how this disparity in business and political aspirations might be resolved, and whether it is resolvable. In addition to all this, there are geopolitical interests — to bind Serbia more closely to the West, where there may be positive results,” she explained.
Trump’s Holding – From A to Z
Donald Trump Jr. is the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, which operates around 250 different companies engaged in real estate, investment, brokerage, sales, marketing, and asset management.
The companies within this holding own, manage, invest in, and develop residential properties, hotels, resorts, residential towers, and golf courses in various countries.
(Bloomberg Adria, 27.09.2024)
https://rs.bloombergadria.com/ostalo/politika/67292/da-li-je-trump-junior-dosao-u-srbiju-zbog-glasova-ili-biznisa/news/
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Publish date : 2024-09-27 02:24:00
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