"Serbia needs more Greenfield investment"

90% of investment in Serbia has come from privatizations, but only 10 percent in new projects, says the World Bank. Serbia needs to attract Greenfield investment in new projects to reform education and change the public spending structure in order to maintain strong economic growth over many years and come closer to the European economy, said World Bank coordinator for South-East Europe Jane Armitage. "Serbia needs more Greenfield investment" It is necessary to attract more Greenfield investment, as this creates new jobs and enhances a country’s level of technological development, Armitage told a conference on reforms in Serbia organized by the Center for Liberal Democratic Studies, with the support of the World Bank. Serbian public expenditure is between 40 and 45 percent, she said, adding that countries that had succeeded in achieving the strong long-term economic growth that Serbia needs, had also had a high level of public expenditure, but that their structure had been different. Armitage said that it was necessary to increase the percentage of public investment that was going into infrastructure and education. In terms of education, Serbia lags behind not only EU countries, but the other countries in the region, and needs to raise enrollment levels in secondary education, while most other countries focus primarily on investment in higher and professional education. It is necessary to harmonize educational profiles with market demands, she said, adding that what mattered to investors was whether there was an adequate trained workforce in the host country. The World Bank official said that Serbia had gone through the first stage of reform, adding that the process was now stagnating, something that could be detected in other countries in transition. As a result of this stagnation, other countries had now overtaken Serbia in terms of reform speed, she pointed out, adding that she hoped that reforms would begin to accelerate anew and that the country, as it had done three years ago, would reclaim its place among South-East Europe’s fastest reformers. The World Bank’s president for Serbia said that there were realistic chances that progress could be accelerated with the election of the new government.

"Serbia needs more Greenfield investment"

It is necessary to attract more Greenfield investment, as this creates new jobs and enhances a country’s level of technological development, Armitage told a conference on reforms in Serbia organized by the Center for Liberal Democratic Studies, with the support of the World Bank.

Serbian public expenditure is between 40 and 45 percent, she said, adding that countries that had succeeded in achieving the strong long-term economic growth that Serbia needs, had also had a high level of public expenditure, but that their structure had been different.

Armitage said that it was necessary to increase the percentage of public investment that was going into infrastructure and education.

In terms of education, Serbia lags behind not only EU countries, but the other countries in the region, and needs to raise enrollment levels in secondary education, while most other countries focus primarily on investment in higher and professional education.

It is necessary to harmonize educational profiles with market demands, she said, adding that what mattered to investors was whether there was an adequate trained workforce in the host country.

The World Bank official said that Serbia had gone through the first stage of reform, adding that the process was now stagnating, something that could be detected in other countries in transition.

As a result of this stagnation, other countries had now overtaken Serbia in terms of reform speed, she pointed out, adding that she hoped that reforms would begin to accelerate anew and that the country, as it had done three years ago, would reclaim its place among South-East Europe’s fastest reformers.

The World Bank’s president for Serbia said that there were realistic chances that progress could be accelerated with the election of the new government.