Serbia

What do you think about getting up an hour earlier? Would you do it if Serbia can thus save some 100 million Euros annually? The change I am talking about has nothing to do with the so called “winter”... Show More + and “summer” time. What I have in mind is that Serbia changes time zone in which it lives.Europe is, and will remain by far the main economic partner for Serbia. However, as growth in Western Europe slows down, Serbia is looking East to find new trade and investment partnerships. Maybe it should do the same for its time zone, and it would also make economic sense? Let me explain. I am sure many of you are aware that Romania, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey operate in a time zone which is an hour ahead of Serbia. And yet, on March 21, 2013 sun rose at 6.28 AM in Sofia, and sunset was at 18.40 PM. On the same day the sun rose at 5.37 AM in Belgrade, and sunset was at 17.52 PM.  So Belgrade had day light before Sofia, and the darkness set upon the city while there was still light in Bulgari Show Less -

There is a bomb ticking in Serbia. Is there anyone who can stop it from exploding?I know this “bomb” is a difficult and sensitive issue and not only in Serbia but throughout most of the “Old Continent”.... Show More + I am talking about aging of the population and its consequent impact on the continued financial viability of the pension systems.While many countries in Europe face the same problem, Serbia is in particularly difficult situation. In 1989, there were less than a million pensioners in Serbia for a population of 7.8 million. Today, the number is over 1.6 million, for a population of 7.2 million. In 1989, 3.5 persons in the active labor market contributed to the pension system for each pensioner, today, the ratio is only 1.2 per pensioner. Clearly, the current system of pay-as-you-go, where contributions from today’s employed are supposed to fund the pensions paid to retirees, and the deficit covered by taxpayers through budget transfer, is fiscally unsustainable.A multi-pronged approach wi Show Less -

First published in The Washington Post on Thursday, January 24, 2013.The weather in Washington has been like a roller coaster this January. Yes, there has been a deep freeze this week, but it was the sudden... Show More + warmth earlier in the month that was truly alarming. Flocks of birds — robins, wrens, cardinals and even blue jays – swarmed bushes with berries, eating as much as they could. Runners and bikers wore shorts and T-shirts. People worked in their gardens as if it were spring.The signs of global warming are becoming more obvious and more frequent. A glut of extreme weather conditions is appearing globally. And the average temperature in the United States last year was the highest ever recorded.As economic leaders gathered in Davos this week for the World Economic Forum, much of the conversation was about finances. But climate change should also be at the top of our agendas, because global warming imperils all of the development gains we have made.If there is no action soon, the future w Show Less -

Uličnim svetlima u delovima Sofije uskoro će upravljati uređaj koji je izmišljen i napravljen u Beogradu. To je za grad pilot-projekat i mali korak, ali je veliki korak napred za malu privatnu kompaniju... Show More + iStreetLight LTD, iz Beograda. Sve se događa zahvaljujući donaciji Fonda za inovacionu delatnost Srbije, koji se finansira iz predpristupnih fondova Evropske unije, poznatih kao IPA fondovi. Lično se nadam da je među vama koji ovo čitate mnogo onih koji su dovoljno pametni i hrabri da postanu inovativni preduzetnici koji mogu nešto slično da naprave, pa bih voleo da sa vama podelim neke detalje. IPA je obezbedila 8,4 miliona evra za podršku inovacijama u Srbiji. Novac se dodeljuje kao donacija ili jeftin kredit (5 % kamate) srpskim firmama koje izmisle nove proizvode/usluge ili unaprede neke od postojećih. Da objasnim na mom primeru: iStreetLight LTD je razvio sistem koji ne samo da upravlja uličnim svetlom na način koji štedi energiju, već može da uključi specijalna (žuta) svetla kad j Show Less -

Returning to my Blog after much travel, I recently read that Serbia wants to keep import duties on 453 agriculture and food products from the EU. The argument says this will protect Serbia’s agricultural... Show More + sector which will not be able to compete with European companies. But can we be sure it is in the interest of Serbian citizens?Let me first explain what I am talking about. Under the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA) signed with EU in 2004 Serbia must phase out tariffs on industrial and most agriculture products from the EU by 2014. As we are approaching the effectiveness date of the agreement, many interested groups are claiming they will not be able to cope with competition from the EU from 2014.Maybe, indeed, when Serbia entered into this commitment, it expected to join the EU earlier than it will. However, it may be hard to argue that the sector did not have plenty of time, and could not have done much more in a decade to prepare for this time. The question is: who is g Show Less -

If you care about your forest, don’t spend energy trying to prop up a dying old tree, but help young sapling grow healthy instead.The economy is like a forest. Making sure that new young healthy enterprises... Show More + develop and grow, thus creating new jobs, is far more productive than trying to save at great cost enterprises that are past their life.Sure enough, it is always emotionally difficult when a magnificent old tree falls to the ground. It was part of a landscape we were proud of and was providing a home to the birds and squirrels. They will have to move on and find another place. I am sure many still regard a number of public and socially-owned enterprises created in older days the way we look at these trees. But, as every good forester know, the survival of a healthy forest relies on renewing it with young new shoots.In this regard, the signals sent lately on direction of economic policy seem to be the right ones. A sunset clause for state support to old industries and a focus on rene Show Less -

We all know that Serbia is going through a rough time. Economic growth is expected to be negative for 2012 and very low at best in 2013. Unemployment is back to over 25 percent. Public debt may soon reach... Show More + the highly risky threshold of 60 percent of GDP and there is as yet little clarity on a vision for recovery that may give hope and turn around the pessimistic mood of many.  As the difficulties seem insurmountable, let me offer a thought by Seneca, Roman philosopher and statesman who also lived through difficult times: “It is not because it is difficult that we don’t do it; it is because we don’t do it that it is difficult”. To boost Serbia’s economic competitiveness and re-launch growth, tinkering at the margin of reforms won’t do. There must be a “General Mobilization” to make Serbia the best place to do business in the region.Why does it cost over 1400 percent of income per capita on average to get a construction permit in Serbia and only 65 percent in Slovenia? Why does expor Show Less -

When you think about it, there are few job titles that should make one feel more proud than to be called a "public servant". Unfortunately, too many bureaucrats do not behave as if they were... Show More + there to serve the public which, they too often forget, is actually paying their salaries.I recently came back from a field trip rather depressed by the disconnect between people on the ground that I saw trying so hard to use with maximum impact the grant resources made available by the World Bank to support development in a particularly poor region of Serbia and some civil (so-called) servants in Belgrade that seem to consider that their duty is to make their life as miserable as possible by throwing all sorts of unjustified and, if I may say so, stupid bureaucratic barriers in their path. Just to give you an example: a lady from South Serbia boarded a bus at three a clock in the morning to come to Belgrade and have certain documents signed so the money can be used. A bureaucrat  in Show Less -

Many argue that the Serbian economy is based on two business models. One is to buy for 1 and sell for 2 or 3 (dinars, Euros, dollars) and the other to buy for two or three and sell for one.The first model... Show More + is that of some private sector companies, while the second occurs in public or state owned companies. And none of them make for sustainable economic development. What is more, citizens of Serbia end up paying twice: once as consumers, the second time as taxpayers.Buying for 1 and selling for 2 or 3 is usually the inevitable result of opportunities offered to monopolies or oligopolies – when one or two big companies control the market. So, Serbia should encourage more companies in the sectors where this trend exists. Newcomers will compete with established companies by lowering prices of products or offering higher quality for same price in order to attract consumers. Households of Serbia would clearly benefit. Liberalizing the market may not please those that benefit from such a comfo Show Less -

In palatial rooms at the Berlaymont, Brussels, EU finance ministers have been discussing how to save the Eurozone and balance growth with austerity. Across the globe in Mexico City, G-20 ministers have... Show More + been trying to save the world economy by strengthening financial systems. In New York at the General Assembly, representatives have been rallying to muster resolutions to denouce violence in the Middle East. Where in the corridors and halls of power are they talking about women's rights? The answer is easy. In side meetings, rarely ever the main event.Let's for a moment imagine a different world. It's a world where women are recognized as helping drive global growth -- today we already know that women represent 40 percent of the global labor force. A world where all women and girls have the chance to live full productive lives -- today we know that too many girls and women still die in childhood and in the reproductive ages. A world where there's equal employment opportunities, equal ear Show Less -