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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

ICT sector one of key drivers of development of Serbian economy

Belgrade, 27 July 2023

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated today that in the last seven years, the information and communication technology (ICT) sector has become one of the three key drivers of the development of the Serbian economy, adding that in the first five months, the export of ICT services reached €1.3 billion, which is 41% more than last year.

At the presentation of the "Digital Europe" programme in the Science and Technology Park in Belgrade, Brnabic reminded that last year was a record year in this sense with ICT exports of €2.7 billion.

With the signing of the Agreement on participation in the "Digital Europe" programme at the end of June in Brussels, as well as today's marking of the first call for our companies, scientific institutes, faculties, teams of micro, small and medium enterprises to come forward with their projects for financing from the "Digital Europe" programme, we practically became a full member of the EU in this sphere, Brnabic said.

She explained that all our teams, companies, micro, small and medium enterprises, institutes, when they apply with their projects to the call within the "Digital Europe" programme, will have an equal chance to receive funding as any company, faculty and scientific institute from the EU.

This is a huge opportunity for us, because I think that our talents, knowledge and people are not lagging behind the members of the Union, but are among the best, the Prime Minister said.

The Prime Minister pointed out that Serbia has a good chance to use a significant part of €7.5 billion allocated by the EU within the mentioned programme by 2027.

Minister of Information and Telecommunications Mihailo Jovanovic said that the funds will be provided for the areas of artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, advanced digital skills and the development and application of digital capacities and interoperability.

The programme, which will last until 2027, was launched by the European Commission as a response to the need for economic recovery of the European continent, he reminded.

The Minister explained that legal and natural persons based in Serbia will be able to apply for project financing, and the programme foresees the participation of non-profit associations, companies, non-governmental organisations, with a special focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to him, the academic community, research organizations, accelerators and startups will have the opportunity to apply for the programme.

Head of the EU Delegation in Serbia Emanuele Giaufret congratulated Serbia on joining the "Digital Europe" programme and emphasised that the European Union will continue to support the IT sector and the development of innovations and new technologies in our country.

According to him, this is just an additional opportunity for rapid development and the great potential that Serbia has shown in this area.

This programme will further enhance and speed up the digital integration of Serbia into the EU digital market and help speed up the process of Serbia's accession to the EU. It is part of the wider strategic growth framework for the Western Balkans, together with the economic and investment plan for this region, the head of the EU Delegation pointed out.