IMPROVING CONDITIONS FOR BROAD-BASED, INCLUSIVE ECONOMIC GROWTH 

Serbia’s economy is constrained by critical barriers to growth. Further improvements to the business enabling environment are needed to attract investments and create jobs. The private sector needs to increase its ability to compete in regional and international markets. USAID works with selected government counterparts, non-governmental organizations, international donors, and other U.S. agencies to advance reforms that will contribute to economic growth and make Serbia more business friendly. USAID economic growth assistance also helps Serbian firms adopt practices to become more innovative and competitive. In the food processing sector, USAID is working across value chains and support structures to foster a system that will increase competitiveness, sales and exports--creating a model that can be replicated in other parts of the Serbian economy. At both the regulatory level and firm level, USAID is working to increase the diversity and availability of financial products and the private sector’s ability to access them.      

Current programs that contribute to Serbia’s overall economic development include:

Public Private Dialogue Project

The Public Private Dialogue project is a four-year, $1.43 million initiative to help build sustainable, effective public-private collaborations between the Government, private sector and civil society in order to improve the business enabling environment and generate more dynamic and sustainable economic growth.

For more information, please see hhtp://www.naled.rs

USAID Competitive Economy Project

The USAID Competitive Economy Project is a four-year, $11.95 million activity to strengthen the competiveness of the Serbian food processing industry, particularly fruit and vegetable value chains, with the goal to increase sales and exports of Serbian food products on domestic and international markets. 

For more information, please see http://www.konkurentno.rs

USAID Cooperation for Growth Project 

The USAID Cooperation for Growth activity is a four-year, $8.8 million activity that improves conditions for broad-based economic growth by making improvements in the Serbian business enabling environment. Improvements increase predictability and transparency and remove regulatory constraints to economic activity, facilitating private sector growth. The project focuses on opportunities that drive growth for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and the private sector in Serbia.

For more information, please see www.saradnja.rs

Women Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders Initiative

USAID’s Women Entrepreneurs and Startup Founders Initiative (WE Founders) Initiative is a three-year, $1.2 million activity which builds competence, leadership, and influence of women entrepreneurs and gender-diverse startups. WE Founders Initiative increases the economic impact of women-led startups by strengthening their growth and access to new and alternate sources of investments.

For more information, please visit  http://belgrade.impacthub.net

USAID Serbia Energy Efficiency Activity 

The USAID Serbia Energy Efficiency Activity (SEEA) is a two-year, $1.1 million activity intended to reduce gas fuel consumption and dependency on imported fuel through improved energy efficiency in the provision of heating at the local level. SEEA aims to improve the efficiency of Serbian district heating systems by decreasing the amount of fuel required to meet consumers’ heating needs.

For more information, please visit tetratech.com