Foreign Investors in Serbia Hail Progress in Digitalization, Electronic Business

Palace of Serbia (BETA/Nenad Petrovic)

The Foreign Investors Council (FIC), which gives recommendations to the Serbian government for improving the business climate in the country, has once again given the highest rating to progress in the field of digitalization and electronic business, says the Council's White Book 2004 publication, unveiled on Nov. 15.
In the new, 22nd consecutive White Book, which contains 451 new recommendations for improving business in 10 priority areas, high positions for the results achieved from November 2023 to October 2024 are also occupied by the pharmaceutical industry, the fight against unpermitted trade, and inspection oversight.

The publication states that out of last year's 397 recommendations for better business, no progress was recorded in 77 percent of cases, while progress was made in 23 percent - with considerable progress in seven percent and some progress in 16 percent of cases.

Ratings are on a scale of one to three, while the average ratings in the 10 priority fields are as follows: for digitalization and electronic business 2.29, the pharmaceutical industry 1.70, environmental protection 1.55, foreign exchange operations 1.33, fight against unpermitted trade and inspection oversight 1.29, real estate and construction 1.23, taxes 1.1, workforce 1.09, while food, agriculture, tourism, and hospitality are rated 1 each.

As the main recommendations for the coming period FIC says that key legislation in the area of labor needs to be amended, such as the Labor Law, and that all bylaws pertaining to occupational safety and health in the workplace need to be enacted.

FIC has 118 members operating in 23 sectors of the economy, who have invested more than EUR45 billion in Serbia so far and directly employ roughly 116,000 people.