According to preliminary results, Serbia ended 2021 with 3.9 billion euros of foreign direct investments, which is more than in 2019, which was considered a record year with 3.815 billion euros of FDI. We asked Radoš Gazdić, acting Director of the Development Agency of Serbia (RAS), whether with these results, Serbia is a record holder in foreign direct investment in the region and in Europe.
"These are preliminary data, but Serbia is certainly a leader in the region in terms of attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). In the first six months of 2021, for which data are available for other countries, Serbia is greatly ahead in the region, but also in relation to EU countries, such as Bulgaria or Slovakia. With 1.758 billion euros of FDI for that period, we are ahead of Bulgaria, which has 653 million euros in the same period, Slovakia with 650 million, Albania with 463 million or Macedonia with 247 million euros of FDI," Gazdić told our magazine.
Last year, according to RAS data, 50 investment contracts were signed, which envisage an investment value of over 630 million euros and which will directly create 8,721 new jobs.
It should be noted that this number of contracts excludes a significant portion of the projects that we are in fact working on and that are being implemented but are not supported by the incentive system. Many companies do not apply for incentives because they need the consultative support of RAS more when coming to Serbia to start work and production here. Thus, the projects and amounts of investments in which RAS is involved in providing various services are much larger than the mentioned number of contracts," adds Gazdić.
In 2020, investments in the construction industry, which accounts for 5.8 percent of GDP, totaled 400 million euros. The real estate and construction sector have significant potential for growth and development, and the fact that there were 87,491 active construction sites in Serbia until September last year shows how much it is expanding.
„Great interest in investing in infrastructure and facilities for various purposes is closely related to the development of tourism and the fact that Belgrade and Novi Sad as metropolises, and some other locations in Serbia, such as mountains and spas, are increasingly popular among tourists, and I am thinking primarily of foreign tourists. There is a lot of space for further investments in, for example, spa tourism projects throughout Serbia, since we are a country with more than 50 spa and climatic places and more than a thousand water sources," says Gazdić.
What also makes us attractive to real estate investors is our efficiency in dealing with building licenses; Serbia is one of the top ten countries in the world for the speed with which building permits are issued.
"In addition, we now have the expansion of construction of facilities for industrial purposes, the construction of logistics centers, and office space, which are all closely related to the success in attracting foreign direct investment in various industries," said Gazdić.
Some of the already present foreign investors in the real estate sector are Eagle Hills, holder of the largest residential project in this part of the region, Belgrade Waterfront, AFI Group (AFI Europe), CTP, leading industrial and logistics investor and developer, Plaza Centers, BIG CEE, Arlon, GTC, BLUEHOUSE, CA IMMO, Immofinanz, Mitiska, Nepi Rockcastle, Hyprop...
Text: Gordana Knežević Monašević
Photo: RAS
