Ever-increasing foreign investments in Serbia. The country offers numerous tax advantages, and trades with the European Union as well as with Russia and China.
Nearly 4.5 billion euros were invested by foreign companies in Serbia in 2023. A figure slightly up compared to last year, but widely praised by the government of Aleksandar Vučić, which takes credit for the country’s economic successes on the eve of Sunday’s early legislative elections.
This attractiveness is based above all on local subsidies and a very advantageous tax system for foreign companies.
“Companies that invest in our country do not have to pay profit tax for, say, 10 years, they are exempt from paying various types of local taxes, they receive free land and certain kinds of benefits” explains Mihajlo Gajić, economist.
For several years, the country has multiplied trade agreements with the European Union as well as with Russia and China. An all-out economic policy assumed by the government, despite criticism from Brussels.
“We mainly target the EU market. Russia doesn’t make a big difference in our export portfolio, but in some ways I think it’s more important to be open to people who come and are fleeing because of the situation Russia finds itself in. Thus Serbia becomes their new home.” says Marko Čadež, president of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.
Most investments in Serbia come from the European Union, but also from Asia, particularly China. The majority of Serbian exports are made to these two regions, just like the rest of the Western Balkans.
