Resource information
This report looks beyond the current
global financial crisis to the restoration of dynamic
long-run growth in Serbia. The answer in this report is that
Serbia will need to fundamentally alter its growth model to
compete effectively in world markets. The past model relying
on excessive inflows of capital and credit that, in part,
fuelled a consumption boom has run its course in all
European countries. Serbia must shift to a greater export
orientation so that it can attain the major gains in
productivity and competitiveness necessary to propel
economic growth to a much higher trajectory. This cannot
happen without an explicit export strategy, and a set of
concomitant structural reforms, driven by commitment and
coordination at the highest political level. This report
tries to pinpoint policy actions that would be most
effective in raising the rate of productivity growth of
Serbia s enterprises so that better export performance and
sustained growth could be achieved. The report has three
parts. Part I reviews Serbia s macroeconomic situation and
its progress on structural reforms. Part II starts with a
review of the current status of Serbia s exports and trade
policy and regional trade arrangements. It then uses product
space (PS) analysis to examine areas where Serbia has a
revealed or potential comparative advantage. The report then
moves on to two such areas, metal processing and automobile
production, which are subjected to value chain analysis to
identify bottlenecks that need to be removed for Serbia to
become a successful producer and exporter in these areas.
The final part of the report looks at obstacles to more
rapid and sustainable development of production and exports.
It starts with the analysis of the business environment,
based on a range of surveys, which is followed by four
sectoral chapters that discuss the obstacles found to be
most binding in the business environment: labor skills,
power supply and efficiency of its use, use of land, and
trade facilitation.
