Business Culture in Serbia
Business Culture in Serbia
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to outline the various business challenges and cultural drivers in the Republic of Serbia. The findings in this paper will also help build a list of suggested investment domains in Serbia.
Why Invest in Serbia:
Serbia’s geographical position, astride the major communications routes through the Balkan peninsular to the Asian sub-continent provides businesses in the region a significant competitive advantage. While risk is always a factor in doing business in transitional economies, the potential return is commensurately higher in Serbia due to the many learned lessons from the process of transition in other former communist countries. Another benefit is the major industries the country specializes in which varies from the agricultural domain which is found in the Northern region of Vojvodina and pharmaceutical in the heart of the nation, Belgrade.
What are the challenges?
As part of its ongoing reforms, Serbia is nearing the end of a program of privatization of state and socially owned companies although this will be delayed by the ongoing economic crisis. The remaining companies to be privatized mainly represent the dead weight of the state sector and additional strain on state budget. A product of the privatization program is also the high unemployment rate which in February 2010 floated around 18% (The Economist, 2011).
As a result of the country’s growing integration with regional and world markets, Serbia has found itself affected by the current global economic crisis. Serbia’s recent growth had been fuelled by consumption, aided by readily-available credit for companies and individuals, and by a steady inflow of foreign investment. At home, consumer credit has been severely reduced, leading to a sharp drop in imports as demand has shrunken. The combined effect is that the government has found itself with a large hole in its budget, and with a shrinking but still significant trade
Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to outline the various business challenges and cultural drivers in the Republic of Serbia. The findings in this paper will also help build a list of suggested investment domains in Serbia.
Why Invest in Serbia:
Serbia’s geographical position, astride the major communications routes through the Balkan peninsular to the Asian sub-continent provides businesses in the region a significant competitive advantage. While risk is always a factor in doing business in transitional economies, the potential return is commensurately higher in Serbia due to the many learned lessons from the process of transition in other former communist countries. Another benefit is the major industries the country specializes in which varies from the agricultural domain which is found in the Northern region of Vojvodina and pharmaceutical in the heart of the nation, Belgrade.
What are the challenges?
As part of its ongoing reforms, Serbia is nearing the end of a program of privatization of state and socially owned companies although this will be delayed by the ongoing economic crisis. The remaining companies to be privatized mainly represent the dead weight of the state sector and additional strain on state budget. A product of the privatization program is also the high unemployment rate which in February 2010 floated around 18% (The Economist, 2011).
As a result of the country’s growing integration with regional and world markets, Serbia has found itself affected by the current global economic crisis. Serbia’s recent growth had been fuelled by consumption, aided by readily-available credit for companies and individuals, and by a steady inflow of foreign investment. At home, consumer credit has been severely reduced, leading to a sharp drop in imports as demand has shrunken. The combined effect is that the government has found itself with a large hole in its budget, and with a shrinking but still significant trade
References: The Economist. Economy in Serbia (Feb, 2011) http://www.economist.com/countries/ Export Credit Guarantee Department, (June, 2010), http://www.ecgd.gov.uk/ European Economic Forecast (2012), http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/european_economy Standard and Technical Regulations: British Standards Institution (BSI): http://www.bsigroup.com/en/sectorsandservices/Disciplines/ImportExport/