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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia has chances for greatest economic growth in history

Belgrade, 18 June 2007

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic said that if all assumptions are fulfilled, the upcoming decade may become the decade of fastest economic growth in Serbia’s history.

Bozidar Djelic

Author: Tanjug

In a statement to the Tanjug news agency Djelic said that Serbia can become one of the top countries in the region of southeastern Europe, which in the past several years marked the quickest economic growth in Europe, meaning that the region may achieve the highest economic growth rate in Europe, too.

According to Djelic, Serbia can become the “Dubai in the Balkans” because just like that logistic centre of the Persian Bay, it can also become the economic centre in the region if it constructs the necessary infrastructure.

The Deputy Prime Minister said Serbia must take in to account the reality of a globalised economy and adjust to the interests of multinational companies before the country begins the greatest economic development in its history.

He explained that apart from an efficient economy, Serbia also needs a legal society which will not allow social divisions to go too deep and will enable even-balanced regional development and a reasonable degree of solidarity among regions.

It also must attract more money from EU funds, prevent monopolistic behaviour, create an efficient educational system to help keep educated talents in the country and build infrastructure needed for normal business activities to take place, added Djelic.

In the economy of the 21st century there are huge opportunities for a medium-seized country with a geographic position such as Serbia’s, said Djelic and stressed it is necessary to accept the world as it really is.

According to Djelic, Serbia is far from exploiting all of its potentials and at the moment it is only symbolically present at some of the world’s largest markets, such as the Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Russian ones.

Djelic recalled that in the past 30 years there were no significant investments in Serbia, adding that other countries’ experiences show that in order to revive the economy, a certain amount of state intervention is necessary to determine which branches should be developed in the 21st century with all the competition.

He stressed that like the Slovak Republic, Serbia should also choose several economic branches and develop them intensely in order to provide the initial charge for their development through the budget and foreign investors.

The state should stimulate large domestic businessmen, but also prevent monopolistic behaviour and encourage the development of small and medium-seized enterprises, said Djelic. State funds are a good way of direct state support of economic development and they must be accompanied by the creation of start-up funds for financing successful domestic businesspeople, he added.

The Deputy Prime Minister stressed that Serbia needs a programme budget, that is, plans for several years in advance, so that huge state-funded infrastructure projects can be completed without any problems.

He also said Serbia needs a better guarantee fund which will provide guarantees for large export transactions, primarily for construction firms which are hired to work abroad. It would also be beneficial if the state keeps at least one insurance company under its ownership in order to make business transactions easier for enterprises.

Djelic said that the new Serbian government must create more efficient mechanisms and programmes for attracting large greenfield investments in order to set up better and safer climate for foreign investments.