Page 134 - SE Outlook Regions 2023

3.10.6 Major Sectors

Serbia has reported continued strong growth in the ICT sector. As
reported by bne IntelliNews, international companies in search of tech
talent and innovative local startups are converging in Serbia, an
emerging high-tech hub that is especially strong in blockchain and
game development.

Employment in Serbia’s ICT sector has reached 95,500, up from just
55,000 in 2016, Minister of Information and Telecommunications Mihailo
Jovanović said in November. According to Jovanović, in the last year
“practically every other advertised position” was in the ICT sector, while
enrolment in technical faculties has increased.

International companies are drawn to Serbia by the availability of tech
talent and relatively low costs. Among the major global companies in
Serbia are Microsoft, Intel, Dell and a number of game developers such
as Endava and UbiSoft.

At the same time there has been a growing startup scene that has
emerged in the last few years. Serbia is gradually getting more locally
focused investors, a similar trend to that seen elsewhere in Southeast
Europe and helped by the European Investment Fund (EIF) that was
the cornerstone for a number of venture capital funds in the region.
More recently, the government initiated a €50mn venture fund of funds.
Among the regional venture capital investors active in Serbia are South
Central Ventures, Bulgaria’s LAUNCHub Ventures and Fil Rouge
Capital of Croatia.

Serbia’s IT sector has benefited from the arrival of both companies
leaving Russia (Russian and international) and Russian IT
professionals leaving their home country.

Serbia also has a large agriculture sector, but drought caused a poor
harvest in 2022. Europe faced its worst drought for 500 years in
summer 2022, and Serbia was one of the badly affected countries. This
followed a drought that affected production of vegetables and other
crops in summer 2021, though grain performed considerably better.

The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) warned in November of the
economic risks connected to the agricultural sector. A combination of
drought and high-priced fertilisers – prompting some farmers to cut
back on fertiliser use – led to a worse-than-expected harvest in 2022.
There are now concerns that fertiliser prices will remain high into 2023
as there is no immediate expectation of an end to the war in Ukraine
which sent prices of both fertilisers and energy soaring.

134 SE Outlook 2023 www.intellinews.com