Serbia

Serbia

Serbia / is a country located at the crossroads between central and southeastern Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonia Plain and the Central Balkans

Serbia is a member of the United Nations, Council of Europe, Organization for Security and Cooperation, Partnership for Peace, Economic Cooperation Organization, and Free Trade Agreement in Central Europe. She is also an official candidate for membership in the European Union, and is currently negotiating to join the union, joining the World Trade Organization, which is a military-neutral country. Serbia has a high human development index and provides free comprehensive health care and primary and secondary education system. Serbia has a higher record among the "free countries" in the region for the above-average income economy (World Bank, International Monetary Fund) with the domination of the services sector over the country's economy, followed by the industrial and agricultural sectors

The Serbian economy is dominated by the services sector which represents 63.8% of the GDP, followed by the industrial sector with 23.5% of the GDP, and agriculture with 12.7% of the GDP. The official currency in Serbia is the Serbian Dinar, and the Central Bank is the National Bank of Serbia

Tourism in Serbia depends mainly on villages and mountains, that is, the Serbian countryside. The most well-known areas are the Zlatibor, Kaubunik, and Tara Mountains. In Serbia there are many hot springs that are an important resource for medical tourism, such as Vranjica Banja, Nishka Banja and Ufkur Banja. In addition, there are the main cities of Serbia such as Belgrade, Novi Sad, Nis and Kragujevac. Serbia is a country that enjoys a bustling nightlife, especially in major cities

And many festivals are held annually, such as the beer festival and trumpet festival in Gocha, which is one of the most powerful festivals in playing in Europe in addition to the exit festival, which won the title of "the best major European festivals" for the year 2014 and one of the 10 best lyric festivals in the world according to the Guardian newspaper . Tourism has greatly prospered since the end of the Yugoslav civil war and the secession of Kosovo, due to the presence of safety, which is a characteristic of all Serbian regions now

The economy was affected by the global economic crisis. After eight years of strong economic growth (average 4.45% annually), the Serbian economy went into recession in 2009 with negative growth of -3% and again in 2012 at -1.7%. And because the government was fighting the effects of the economic crisis, the public debt doubled for a period of 4 years, from 29.2% of GDP before the crisis to 61.5% today

The number of the workforce in Serbia is 2.96 million, of whom 58.6% work in the services sector, 21.9% in agriculture and 19.5% in industry. The average monthly net salary in August 2013 was 528 USD. Unemployment remains a severe problem, at 20.1% in October 2013. Since 2000, Serbia has attracted 25 billion US dollars in foreign direct investment. Some of the major investors include Fiat, Siemens, Bush, Michelin, Coca-Cola and Carlsberg. In the energy sector, Russian energy giants Gazprom and Lukoil have made significant investments in Serbia

The country's imports exceed its exports by a third. However, exports recorded stable growth in 2012 and 2013. The country has a free trade agreement with the European Free Trade Association and the FTA in Central Europe and also has a preferential trade regime with the European Union, a generalized system of preferences with the United States, and free trade agreements Individual with Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Turkey

In Serbia there are very favorable natural conditions for diversified agricultural production. In 2013, the value of food and agricultural exports was $ 2.8 billion. The import-export ratio was 180%. Agricultural exports constitute one fifth of Serbia's sales in the world market. Serbia is also one of the largest suppliers of frozen fruits to the European Union (most for the French and German market). Agricultural production is the most prominent in Vojvodina known for its fertile lands

70% of agricultural production is from crop fields, and 30% is from livestock production. It is striking that Serbia (despite its small size) is the second largest producer of peaches in the world (after China) and the third largest producer of berries in the world (after Russia and Poland). The country is also a major producer of corn (6,480,000 tons annually, ranked 32nd in the world) and wheat (2,070,000 tons, ranked 35th in the world). Other important agricultural products are: sunflowers, sugar beets, soybeans, potatoes, apples, beef, poultry meat and dairy

Industry is the economic sector that was most affected by the sanctions and bombing in the nineties, and also the transition to capitalism during the period after the year 2000. Therefore industrial production witnessed a sharp reduction over the years. In 2013, the industry reached nearly half of what it reached in 1989. The industrial sectors include Main: cars (represented by Fiat cars), mining, non-ferrous metals, food, electronics, medicine, and clothing

Serbia is relatively strong in the mining industry. It is ranked 18th in the world (and seventh in Europe) and is the third largest copper producer in Europe. The food industry is also well known for Serbia (regionally and internationally) and is one of the strong points of the economy. Some of the international brands that set up factories in Serbia are: Pepsi, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Heineken, Carlsberg and Noordzker

The apparel and textile industry has experienced a boom in recent years with significant investment by foreign companies (such as Geox and others). The electronics industry in Serbia peaked in the 1980s and today is only a third of what it was at that time, but has experienced something of a renaissance in the past decade with investments by companies such as Siemens, Panasonic, Japan and Slovenian Gorenje. The pharmaceutical industry in Serbia includes 20 local companies, the largest of which are "Hemofarm" and "Galenica". They represent 80% of the country's production volume. Domestic drug production covers more than 60% of domestic demand