A top government official has said Serbia wants to copy Slovakia by attracting European investment in its car industry, building on Fiat’s plans.
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“Slovakia is a model we want to look up to,” deputy prime minister Mladjan Dinkic told Reuters. “And we can realise this if we … cut the red tape and reform the public sector.”
Slovakia, home to Kia’s first European plant and another of Europe’s former communist countries, became a car industry hub earlier this decade, triggering rapid economic growth although also leaving it exposed to the collapse in world demand following the global financial crisis.
Fiat is set to make its initial, EUR100m investment in new equipment in Serbia next month, after keeping plans on hold due to the global downturn. Fiat’s business in Serbia is expected to attract many small contractor firms.
Several car part producers from EU member Slovenia have also started moving production to Serbia this year, Reuters noted.
“All of this started intensifying in September. Those are all signals telling us that next year we could have a lot more investment in Serbia,” Dinkic said, adding that low taxes and skilled but cheap labour made Serbia attractive for investors.
However, those potential investors remain cautious, diplomats and bankers told Reuters. “Serbia is still better at words than deeds,” a western investment banker said. “If they do press on with reforms we could see some results, although I doubt it would be of Slovak scale.”
The biggest former Yugoslav republic with 7.5m, Serbia hopes to become a European Union candidate soon, although its accession agreement with the EU still hinges on the Belgrade government handing over war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic, the report noted.
