Majkl Kirbi

Gost: Majkl Kirbi, Ambasador SAD u Srbiji

Razgovor vodio: Predrag Blagojević

Predrag Blagojevic: I pored kolapsa elektronske industrije, mnogi ekonomski stručnjaci tvrde da jug Srbije ima ogroman potencijal u IT sektoru, i ima i onih koji jug porede čak i sa Silikonskom dolinom, gde je motor razvoja bio Univerzitet Stenford. Razgovaramo sa Ambasadorom Majklom Kirbijem, Ambasadorom Sjedinjenih Američkih Država u Srbiji. Gospodine Kirbi, da li Srbija, ili ipak pokušaćemo da se fokusiramo na jug Srbije, ima potenciala za razvoj IT sektora?

Majkl Kirbi: I think the answer is yes. The question is how do you do it. And I’ve come to understand a little about your combination of educational system and teaching young folks, one - the IT that they need, and two – how to do business. I think that you have a lot of opportunity here, from what I’ve seen in people reaching out of cross-borders. I’ve seen an example in Novi Sad of professors being interested in helping create companies. I’ve seen a little less of that here in Nis and I think modernizing that idea that you can both teach and make a company, or you can be a student and work, I’m seeing more of that students .working than professors teaching and making companies.

Mislim da je odgovor - da. Pitanje je kako to uraditi. Pomalo shvatam vašu kombinaciju obrazovnog sistema i edukacije mladih ljudi, kao prvo - IT im je potreban, a drugo - kako da posluju. Mislim da se ovde nudi dosta mogućnosti. Na primer, profesori u Novom Sadu su zainteresovani da pomognu u osnivanju kompanija. Manje sam toga video ovde u Nišu ali mislim da je to dobra ideja da možete istovremeno i da podučavate i da osnivate kompaniju, ili da možete biti student i da radite, i treba tu ideju modernizovati.

Predrag Blagojevic: Are the IT professionals or let’s say owners of IT companies aware of that potential?

Da li su IT profesionalci, ili mogli bismo da kažemo vlasnici IT kompanij, svesni ovog potencijala?

Majkl Kirbi: yeah, I mean first on a practical basis. last year I went with the prime minister Dacic to the US, and we went to Microsoft and we went also down in Silicon Valley to Intel, Google, E-bay, Apple, Oracle, Cisco. I mean big companies. First, I was surprised with the number of Serbs in States working in that industry, but second ‘ part of that trip was to explain who is available here. There is interest on the part of our companies because they are constantly searching for new ideas. One I will say that surprised me is Intel was developing a new phone and the image capturing software was developed in Serbia for their worldwide tank and that I think was , that word has to get out a little more. Some really revolutionary staff right now.

Da, pre svega mislim na praktičnoj bazi. Prošle godine smo bivši premjer Dačić i ja išli u SAD, u posetu Microsoftu, ali takođe smo bili u Silikonskoj Dolini i posetili Intel, Google, E-bay, Apple, Oracle, Cisco - velike kompanije. Bio sam iznenađen brojem Srba koji rade u toj industriji u SAD, a deo naše posete je bio I da objasnimo potencijale Srbije u ovom sektoru. Postoji interesovanje kod američkih kompanija u ulaganje zbog toga što stalno tragaju za novim idejama. Jedna koja me je mogu da kažem iznenadila je da Intel trenutno razvija novi telefon, a softver za pravljenje slika je razvijen u Srbiji, i to za upotrebu u celom svetu. Mislim da bi o ovome moglo mnogo više da se priča. Rade se neke trenutno veoma revolucione stvari.

Predrag Blagojevic: You’ll be a guest of the ceremony to mark at the beginning of Serbian-US friendship club. What could be the result of that?

Bićete gost na ceremoniji koja obeležava otvaranje Kluba Srpsko-Američkog Prijateljstva. Kakve rezultate bi smo mogli da očekujemo?

Majkl Kirbi: Well, I hope what we see is an awareness that maybe we are not “big bad guys”, and maybe in the Friendship Society they already think that, but open dialogue, honest awareness, because I think that we are sort of trying to help create a future for people here. That it is the future of media like yours, that it’s the future where people can develop both personally and professionally and where they can have jobs. And I think that sometimes whether it’s friendship with us or right now you need foreign investors, whether it’s us or the Germans, or the Russians, or the Chinese or.. I don’t know, I didn’t even heard of recently an investment from Bosnia coming into this area.. So, that’s I think the goal.

Nadam se da ćemo videti da postoji mišljenje da možda i nismo “veliki i loši momci”,a možda u Klubu Prijateljstva već postoji takvo mišljenje. Očekujemo otvoreni dijalog, iskreno mišljenje, zato što mislim da mi na neki način pokušavamo da pomognemo u stvaranju budućnosti za građane Srbije. Budućnosti za medije kao što je vaš, budućnosti u kojoj ljudi mogu da se razvijaju na ličnom i profesionalnom planu i da imaju posao. Bilo da je to prijateljstvo sa nama ili kao sada kada vam trebaju strani investitori, bez obzira da li smo to mi ili Nemci, ili Rusi, Kinezi .. Ne znam, u skorije vreme nisam čuo da je došla neka investicija, recimo iz Bosne u ove krajeve... Tako, mislim da je to cilj.

Predrag Blagojevic: The founders of Serbian-USA friendship club are mentioning brining some American university to Nis as a possibility. Is there a chance for that?

Osnivači Kluba Srpsko-Američkog Prijateljstva pominju kao mogućnost dovođenje u Niš nekog od Američkih univerziteta. Da li postoji takva mogućnost?

Majkl Kirbi: No, no, but I’m saying we as the federal government, don’t do that. I think, there are certainly our schools who are looking to cooperate with schools around the world. We have felt over the years that maybe Americans don’t get out and about enough. We also think that our American education is a good product. I don’t know. I think, I’ve got a decent education. And so we are trying to expand in part to make our kids more aware of the world around them, but it would be I think really a lot of cooperation.,You have some good schools already here and. I think that that would be where we are likely to start cooperation between universities.

Mi kao federalna vlada se ne bavimo tim. Verujem da sigurno postoje naše škole koje su zainteresovane za saradnju sa školama širom sveta. Već dugo imamo osećaj da možda Amerikanci ne putuju dovoljno van zemlje. Takodje mislimo da je Američki obrazovni sistem dobar proizvod. Mislim da sam ja lično dobio pristojno obrazovanje. Pokušavamo da usmerimo razvoj u pravcu da naša deca budu više svesna sveta oko njih, ali ipak mislim da bismo mogli da sarađujemo. Vi već imate dobre škole i mislim da bi početak saradnje mogao da bude između univerziteta.

Predrag Blagojevic: In the same time with the information about beginning of work of the Serbian-American Friendship Club, the deputy mayor of Nis recently accused journalists and CSO activists of being American agents and mercenaries. How do you see that?

Zajedno sa infromacijama o početku rada Klub Srpsko-Američkog Prijateljstva, zamenik gradonačelnika Niša nedavno optužio novinare i OCD aktiviste da su oni agenti i plaćenici. Šta vi mislite o tome?

Majkl Kirbi: Just I didn’t know you were either my agent or my mercenary, but you know…. Maybe it’s thoughts of what an NGO is about. And I think for us, we think an open society encourages people to get together, who are concerned about a particular idea, say the environment or something else and that they can form up together. Now, when you ask questions that are uncomfortable and people in power don’t like having to answer those, we happen to think that a country is better off having awkward questions asked and having people have to answer them. If that makes everybody who asks uncomfortable questions, which I think NGOs do in part, they have a lot of other things they do, well maybe they think like us, but it isn’t the reason that you or NGOs are under our control, I think. I’m not criticizing the particular gentleman, but I think you should accept difference.

Nisam znao da ste vi moj agent ili plaćenik, ali znate, možda je to mišljenje o tome čemu služe organizacije civilnog društva. Što se tiče nas, mislimo da otvoreno društvo ohrabruje ljude da se udružuju, ljude koji se se okupili oko neke specifične ideje, recimo oko životne sredine ili nečeg drugog, i da oni mogu da se organizuju oko te ideje. Medjutim, kada postavljate pitanja koje nisu prijatna i kada se ljudima na vlasti ne dopada što moraju da daju odgovore na ta pitanja, naše mišljenje je da je bolje za državu kada ona dobija nezgodna pitanja i kada na njih mora da da odgovore. Ako svi oni koji postavljaju nezgodna pitanja, što mislim da NVO delimično i rade, mada rade i mnogo drugih stvari, možda i misle kao I mi, ali to nije razlog da se kaže da ste vi ili organizacije civilnog društva pod našom kontrolom. Ne kritikujem posebno dotičnog gospodina, ali mislim da moramo da prihvatimo razlike.

Predrag Blagojevic: Last week, the radio Free Europe, radio Liberty, published an article related to Russian-Serbian Humanitarian Center based in Nis. Croatian journalist Drago Hedl, who visited that base on Nis airport, claims that it’s not a military base, however, he left openen the possibility to be converted. How the US administration is looking at that, at that base?

Prošle nedelje, radio Free Europe, radio Liberti, objavio je članak u vezi sa Rusko-Srpskim Humanitarnim Centrom, sa sedištem u Nišu. Hrvatski novinar Drago Hedl, koj je posetio ovu bazu na Niškom aerodromu, tvrdi da to nije vojna baza, ali ipak ostavio je otvorenu mogućnost za promenu namene. Kako vlada SAD smatra gleda na ovu bazu?

Majkl Kirbi: Well, you know we had the flooding here last year and this May, and , you know, a lot of the countries pitched in and helped. As Serbia moves towards the European Union, the European Union doesn’t have sub-regional disaster organizations. Give you an example, frequently the Oder ness of river area floods, that includes Czech, Poland and Germany. And in the course of my experience, maybe five or six times it’s flooded, but they haven’t formed a group of just three countries to address that, hat’s part of the European Union that they are part of. So we don’t necessarily see in the long run a reason for just a plain Russian-Serbian one.

Znate da smo ovde imali poplave u maju, i znate da su se mnoge države pridružile i pružile pomoć. Srbija je krenula ka Evropskoj Uniji, medjutim Evropska Unija nema sub-regionalne organizacije za pomoć u prirodnim katastrofama. Daću vam jedan primer: veoma često ima poplava reke Odre u njenom toku kroz Češku, Poljsku i Nemačku. Po mojim saznanjima, možda pet ili šest puta ova oblast je stradala od poplava, ali nije formirana grupu od ove tri države koja može da se bori sa ovim problemom. To je deo Evropske Unije kojoj i oni pripadaju. Stoga, mi na duže staze ne vidimo potrebu da postoji samo Rusko-Srpski centar. …

Predrag Blagojevic: Ok, when we are talking about Russia-Serbia relations. A very important topic is the South Stream project. How does the US administration look at that, look at the South Stream project?

Dobro, kad već pričamo o rusko-sprpskim odnosima. Projekat “Južni Tok” je veoma važna tema. Kako vlada Sjedinjenih Država gleda na to, šta misle o projektu Južni Tok?

Majkl Kirbi: Well, energy is important for everybody. Here in Serbia you have some natural gas of your own and you have to import some. What we have been concerned about all over the world is multiple sources for your energy, whether it’s natural gas, whether it’s oil, whether it’s electricity. And South Stream, perhaps, some day will be built, but you also have the possibility of getting natural gas also from, say, Azerbaijan, through that way. You have a possibility now that Cyprus seems to have discovered significant amounts of natural gas, that’s close to Europe coming that way. You have in North Africa natural gas, Algeria, Libya. And one of our concerns, and of the European concerns is that this pipeline should be able to have the flow go in different directions, in other words, both directions. So that depending on the economics and the price, you might be able to have gas that Croatians are talking about, having a liquid natural gas facility on Krk island. So that deck can come there and be shipped along a common pipeline. And so that’s what we’ve also been talking about. If you construct a pipeline, is it only for one way and one gas? So that’s a concern of ours , but if they can work out the conditions then I don’t have, my government doesn’t have a particular problem with that, but we think that being able to flow both ways is important.

Dakle, energija je veoma važna sa sve. Ovde u Srbiji imate nešto svog prirodnog gasa ali neku količinu morate da uvozite. Širom sveta brinemo se o tome da postoji više izvora energije, bilo da je u pitanju prirodni gas, nafta ili struja. Moguće je da će “Južni Tok” biti sagrađen jednog dana, ali vi isto imate mogućnost da dobijate prirodni gas takođe iz, recimo, Azerbejdžana, tim putem. Još jedna mogućnost sada je i Kipar, koji izgleda da je pronašao značajanu količinu prirodnog gasa, i bliže je Evropi. Ima prirodnog gasa u Severnoj Africi, Alžiru, Libiji. I jedino o čemu mi brinemo, a brine i Evropa, jeste da ovaj gasovod mora da omogućava protok u različitim pravcima, drugim rečima, u oba pravca. Tako da u zavisnosti od ekonomije i cene, vi biste mogli da imate gas o kom pričaju Hrvati, koji imaju tečni prirodni gas na ostrvu Krk. Ako gradite gasovod, da li je on samo za jedan pravac i za jedan gas? Dakle, to je ono oko čega brinemo, ali ako uslovi mogu da se dogovore, moja vlada onda nema nikakvih problema sa tim, ipak mislimo da je mogućnost protoka u oba pravca važna.

Predrag Blagojevic: Ok, that’s finish this interview with something nice.

Dobro, mogli bi smo da na kraju intervjua da popričamo o nekim lepim stvarima.

Majkl Kirbi: This has been fun, too.

I ovo do sada je bilo zabavno.

Predrag Blagojevic: Let’s talk about youth. Yes. You were recently a guest of performance of students from high-school from Nis. It was a theater, a theater show. They played Tennessee Williams’ “Streetcar named desire”. And you even compared the main actor of that show with famous Marlon Brando from the original movie from 1951. What was the.. ?

Hajde da popričamo malo o mladima. Dobro. Upravo ste bili ste gost na predstavi učenika srednje škole iz Niša. To je bio pozorište, pozorišna predstava. Oni su odglumili dramu Tenesi Vilijamsa “Tramvaj zvani želja”. Vi ste uporedili glavnog glumca ove predstave sa poznatom glumcem Marlonom Brandom iz originalnog filma iz 1951. Iz kog razloga?

Majkl Kirbi: Well, it was fun to go to. Certainly, Marlon Brando had a pretty good career, but I don’t know how many Brando movies you’ve seen but he was always almost impossible to understand. You know, I could actually understand the actor a little better than I could understand Marlon Brando, but plus I liked it because my mum was in town and I was able to take her to see the play, to see the kids. You know, I was impressed with how well they did, in a foreign language and the foreign culture, because Tennessee Williams was writing about a period that was also different, that was even different from the rest of US. It was Louisianna, and it was the south. And I think they did a good job and that was a great thing to see kids doing something like that.

Bilo je zabavno otići na tu predstavu. Sigurno da je Marlon Brando imao prilično dobru karijeru, ali, ne znam koliko filmova sa Brandom ste vi odgledali, uvek je bilo mnogo teško razumeti ga. Znate, ja sam stvarno mogao da razumem glumca u đačkoj predstavi malo bolje nego što sam mogao da razumem Marlona Branda. Šta više, dopalo mi se , moja majka je bila u poseti i imao sam mogućnost da i nju odvedem na predstavu, da I ona može da vidi tu decu. Znate, bio sam oduševljen njihovom glumom, na stranom jeziku i u duhu strane culture. Tenesi Vilijams je pisao o periodu koji je bio veoma različit, drugačiji čak i od ostatka SAD. Radnja se dešava u Lujziana, na jugu. Mislim da su đaci uradili odličan posao, i bio je dobro videti kako ta deca rade tako nešto.

Predrag Blagojevic: Let me ask you one more thing. If you were a young man who lives in Serbia in this moment, what would you do with your life?

Dozvolite da pitam još nešto. Ako bi ste bili mlad čovek, koj u ovom trenutku žive u Srbiji, šta bi ste radili so svojim životom?

Majkl Kirbi: Well, a young man who lives in Serbia, who could be smarter than anything he wanted to be or just with my own limitations?

Dakle, mladi čovek koji živi u Srbiji i koji je toliko pametan da bi mogao da bude sve što poželi, ili ipak u okviru mojih mogućnosti?

Predrag Blagojevic: Whatever. I mean what’s the best perspective for young people in Serbia in this moment?

Kako god.. Mislim, koje su sada najbolje perspektive za mlade ljudi iz Srbiji?

Majkl Kirbi: First, I think, anybody ought to educate him or herself, whether it’s a young man or a young woman. And I was just at the high school that did the play today, some bright kids there. I said you have to learn to like to learn and to want to learn. So that would be my first one is to do that. If I was seeking a job right now in Serbia and I wanted to stay in Serbia, I might try something in the IT field. If I were better in IT, then I am. You have some real possibilities now in the modern world to reach across the border and get a good income from a job in IT. Or you can stay in Nis and do something for a Silicon Valley company or a company in Germany, or a company some place else. And you get a pretty good wage and be here where your costs are pretty low. I would say though that do something that interests you. If music is your thing and you are good at it, try to be good at what you can be good at, don’t just chase for money. And if all you are doing is getting an education for a job, I hope you’ll like that job. I hope as you’ll get one and you’ll be working in that field for a long time. And if it’s something that you don’t like, you’re never going to be fulfilled. So explore, be curious and work hard and whatever it is. And, I’m optimistic that as you get into EU, the economy is going to be turning around, with domestic investors, foreign investors, that is the opportunities. My son-in-law is Spanish, he’s in States right now getting an MBA and he’ll work for a company that I’m not going to name on a lot here, but I know that my daughter would like to go back and live in Spain. And so you know for some people part of their path may be to get an education here, get some experience here, go abroad, get some experience, come back, because the world right now should be their limit rather than any particular city. Serbia is a part of the world and so I know that a lot of people are looking to the middle east, UAE is a place for job, but come home every once in a while.

Prvo, mislim da je svako mora da se onrazuje, bilo da je to mladić ili devojka. Danas sam baš posetio školu koja je postavila predstavu o kojoj smo govorili I sreo se sa veoma bistrom I talentovanom decom. Rekao sam im da moraju da nauče da vole da uče i da žele da uče. To bi bio moj prvi savet.. Kada bih sada tražio posao u Srbiji i imao bi želju da ostanem u Srbiji, probao bih možda nešto u IT sektoru. Sada imate realne mogućnosti u savremenom svetu da dobacite preko granica i da dobijete dobar prihod od posla u IT. Ili bi ste mogli da ostanete u Nišu i da radite nešto za neku firmu iz Silikonske Doline ili Nemačke, ili iz nekog drugog dela sveta. Dobili bi ste veoma dobru platu i bili bi ste ovde, gde su troškovi prilično niski. Ipak bih vam predložio da radite nešto što vas zanima. Ako je muzika vaša stvar i vi ste dobri u tome, pokušajte da postanete dobri u onome u čemu možete, ne da samo jurite za parama. Ako je sve što radite to, da dobijate obrazovanje zbog posla, nadam se da ćete taj posao voleti.. Ako to nije nešto što vi volite, nikada se nećete osećati ispunjenim. Istražujte, budite radoznali i mnogo radite, šta god da radite. Optimista sam, da kada uđete u EU, privreda će se zaokreniti, biće domaćih investitora, stranih investitora, tu su mogućnosti. Moj zet je Španac, sada je u SAD na studijama na MBA programu, i radiće za kompaniju koju neću mnogo da pominjem ovde. Ali ipak znam da moja ćerka želi da se vrate i da žive u Španiji. Tako da za neke ljude deo njihovog puta jeste da dobiju obrazovanje ovde, dobiju radno iskustvo ovde, odu van zemlje, steknu novo iskustvo, I vrate se. Zato svet treba da bude njihova granica, a ne bilo koji grad. Srbija je deo sveta, i znam da mnogi ljude koje gledaju ka Srednjem Istoku, UAE, kao mestu za posao, ali povremeno se vraćaju kući.

Predrag Blagojevic: Thank you for being the guest of JV and 15 minute show.

Hvala na gostovanju u emisiji 15 minuta na Južnim Vestima.