Economy of Belgrade
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This article is about the economy of Belgrade, capital of Serbia.
As of August 2006, the average monthly gross salary in Belgrade amounted to 40,384 Serbian dinars (about 505 euro, 640 USD, or 340 Pound sterling) the highest of any district in Serbia. The average net salary was 27,596 Serbian dinars (about 345 euro, 440 USD, or 230 Pound sterling).[1]
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[edit] Growth of investments in Belgrade
In the competition for European cities and regions of the future in 2006 and 2007, organized by the Financial Times magazine, Belgrade was proclaimed “City of the Future in Southern Europe” on March 16 in Cannes. Apart from Belgrade, awards also went to Paris as the “City of the Future in Western Europe”, Brno as the “City of the Future in Central Europe”, Baku as the “City of the Future in Eastern Europe” and London as the “City of the future in Northern Europe”, which was also named “European City of the Future 2006/07”.
Belgrade mayor, Nenad Bogdanović says that city had been through a period in which it was necessary to invest in the infrastructure of certain parts of the city and that the construction of numerous facilities is underway there now. The latest Greenfield investments are also being increasingly realized in Zemun, the part of the city which will soon be on a par, according to investments, with New Belgrade, where the largest construction works have been carried out so far. The mayor expects foreign capital to start arriving faster in Belgrade and Serbia, which is also the precondition for the opening of new jobs and the start of new programs.
The competition for “Cities and Regions of the Future” is organized by the specialized edition of the Financial Times for foreign direct investments – “FDI Magazine”, and this prestigious annual award is presented for all the continents. The award also represents a recommendation of the world’s leading economic magazine for the locations where one should invest, since it is based on criteria such as economic potential, operating costs, human resources, transport, IT and telecommunication, as well as the quality of life for foreign investors.
[edit] Business environment
In the recent years, investment climate in Belgrade and Serbia have been improved. The country is in the process of negotiating the Stabilization and Association Agreement with the European Union, and is the world’s leading reformer as stated by the World Bank. In addition, the pace of structural reforms is ahead of that in other transition countries according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
[edit] Intellectual capital
As a leading educational center in Serbia comprising 62 university-level institutions, Belgrade boasts well educated, fast learning, multilingual and IT literate labor force. Over 8,000 students graduate from Belgrade University every year, with 1/3 of them adding to the traditionally strong engineer base. According to the Gallup International, the percentage of English speakers is the highest in Central and Eastern Europe, and an increasing number of western business schools open their affiliates in Belgrade.
[edit] Location and infrastructure
Belgrade is located in the center of South East Europe, at the intersection of the strategic transportation corridors No. 10 and No. 7 linking Western and Central Europe with the Middle East. It is lying at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube river.
