Serbia needs small and medium (MSP) enterprises to trigger economic growth and create new jobs since the MSP makes almost 99 percent of all companies, provides the two-thirds of employment and of a total of local revenues, Antony Godfrey, the US ambassador to Serbia, has said on Thursday, the Beta news agency reported.

He added that MSP had professional management, used finances, invested in equipment, had a team dealing with the sale and start selling to sophisticated markets mostly.

“MSP contribute with 28 percent to Serbia’s budget, compared to 55 percent in the US and the EU and they should be the most valuable players in the economy,” Godfrey told a business forum organised by the USAID in Serbia.

The director of the USAID Project for Cooperation in Economic Development Joseph Lauter said that in all countries, especially in developing as Serbia, MSP should be the pillar of economic growth.

“To help to develop this sector, we decided to gather its representatives to exchange experience, talks about key elements of success, get concrete support and find opportunities to grow,” Lauter said.

Godfrey did not comment on Vucic’s meeting with the Russian President  Vladimir Putin. The US ambassador said that he and Vucic „are focused on progress.“

He added he talked to Vucic about the economy and „the join steps that could be taken in further economic development in Serbia.“