White Palace special event hits over one million euros

Belgrade, 10 June 2002 Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Alexander and Crown Princess Katherine had a special event at The White Palace (Beli Dvor) this weekend for the first time since returning to Yugoslavia last July 17.

On Friday, June 7, The White Palace hosted a gala dinner, attended by Serbian Prime Minister Dr and Mrs Zoran Djindjic, His Holiness Patriarch Pavle, other ministers, religious leaders and diplomatic corps, to honour and thank donors who generously donated ambulances and medical equipment for hospitals across the country. The Crown Princess Katherine Foundation has received donations of medical equipment and ambulances over one-million euros from donors in Yugoslavia, the Serb Diaspora, companies, friends from around the world and other people of good will as an emergency effort to support the urgent need of medical equipment and ambulances for hospitals.

In addition to the humanitarian evening, on Saturday, June 8, Their Royal Highnesses hosted a business breakfast with guest speakers, Governor Mladjan Dinkic of the National Bank of Yugoslavia, Minister of Finance Bozidar Djelic, Minister of International Economic Relations Goran Pitic, Minister of Economy and Privatisation Aleksandar Vlahovic, Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications, Marija Raseta-Vukosavljevic, Privatisation Agency Director Vladimir Cupic and the Secretary of the Agency for Foreign Investment and Promotion of Export, Dragan Zivkovic. The guest speakers spoke to participants about investment, developing partnerships between local and international businesses and job creation.

”I am touched by outpouring of support from people all around the world,” Crown Princess Katherine said. ”The event was a huge success as it brought together so many important benefactors who recognised the enormous challenges we are facing and made an impressive and generous start to the solution. I do hope they will invest with us now. People in the international community do care about our country and our people. We just have to make them aware about what those needs are and how they can help.”

”We are Europeans,” Crown Princess Katherine stated, ”the knowledge and expertise of our doctors is respected worldwide. Unfortunately they work in the most difficult conditions and we must give them the tools to do their jobs.”

”Our hospitals are waiting for you and your help. Many lives can be saved by sending the Crown Princess Katherine Foundation a cheque payable to the manufacturers for medical equipment and ambulances, ” Crown Princess Katherine said.

Commenting on the business breakfast on Saturday, Crown Prince Alexander said, “Yugoslavia’s workforce is one of the most talented and best educated in the world. It is of utmost importance that we help the people of our country by encouraging foreign companies to invest now.”