Shivaz Rai tells Telegraf: Serbia can be region's digital hub, hundreds of thousands of Indians want to visit

Photo: Telegrafrs

During his stay in Belgrade, we spoke with Shivaz Rai, international entrepreneur, investor and CEO of DU Digital, which operates in the field of digital services, identification systems, visa processes and technological solutions for governments and companies around the world.

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Rai has more than two decades of experience in the financial sector, banking and international investments, and he received his education from some of the world's most prestigious institutions.

During the conversation, he talked about Serbia's potential to become a regional technology center, relations between Serbia and India, possibilities for the arrival of Indian tourists and students, but also about advice for young entrepreneurs in the Balkans.

According to Rai, Serbia today holds several key advantages that set it apart in Southeast Europe.

"During my visit to Belgrade I was very positively surprised by the Serbian energy, talent base, strategic location. Belgrade has an interesting combination, it has a strong engineering and technology culture, competitive operating costs, and good connectivity with Europe. I do believe Belgrade has the potential to merge as a regional hub for digital services, fintech and various technology-enabled services in South East Europe," Rai said.

According to him, any country that wishes to become a tech hub must meet three conditions: talent, infrastructure, and regulations.

"Serbia seems to be moving in the right direction for all the three. I alo find it attractive that it's not trying to copy others blindly. It has its own position in between Europe, Asia, Middle East. That gives it a very unique opportunity to become a bridge for digital services across borders, processing, a regional innovator," Rai said.

Speaking about Serbia and India, Rai stressed that the two countries have space for deepening cooperation, specifically when it comes to digital economy.

"I was very impressed that the Serbian president was part of the AI summit. And I think he had a very good meeting with - not just in the summit but across - has very good relations with Mr. Modi and that leads us to see a lot more future potential growth in the two countries together."

He spoke about digital transformation, saying that Serbia should not regard digitization only as an IT project.

"(Digital) identity, payments, verifications, consent-based data sharing should become a foundation over which private innovation can grow," Shivaz Rai said, among other things. Watch the whole interview in the video at the top of the page.

(Telegraf Biznis)