Serbia’s economic growth rate has exceeded IMF and World Bank forecasts. They will say four percent, which was mostly the result of investments, primarily foreign investments. As a result, unemployment also dropped below ten percent for the first time. Jobs have been created this year in all corners of the country, with the first new manufacturing facility in 2019 being given to Leskovac.
An investment worth 25 million euros from the British company Aptiv, with the support of the state with more than eight million euros, has breathed life into the new industrial Green Zone and raised the standard of living in Leskovac. Automotive electrical installations already produce 1,500 workers.
In 2020, they plan employment of another 1,000 to 1,500 people to be realized between February and August”, said Marija Stevanovic of the Leskovac National Employment Service.
After a few decades, the first foreign investment arrived in Pancevo. The German “CTF”, with an investment of 160 million euros, has created new jobs and state-of-the-art technology in the production of components for the automotive, marine and rail components.
However, the biggest investment in Vojvodina after half a century comes to Zrenjanin. Chinese company Linglong builds a tire factory worth 800 million euros, the state will build a highway.
“We will first receive technical workers who will be sent to China for training, and then we will explore the market in and out of Africa”, said Wang Feng, president of Shandong Linglong Taier.
Global leader in interior manufacturing for the automotive industry, which employs 32,000 workers worldwide, opened its first factory in Central and Southeastern Europe in Kragujevac. Chinese “Yang Feng” employed the first 200 workers.
“The plan is to have a total of 800 people in the next four years, the plant will operate within the free trade zone of Sumadija”, said Milos Radovic, director of “Yang Feng” Kragujevac.
Predrag Lucic from the Regional Chamber of Commerce of Sumadija and Pomoravlje said that the beginning of Yang Feng’s business additionally confirms the investment attractiveness of the city of Kragujevac as a large economic center. New plants from Subotica where German and Italian companies invested to Raska, where with the help of the state, a local businessman opened a factory for the production of work safety equipment. New investments are also announced.
“We are in negotiations, but until they are over, I could not go out in public, but rest assured that there will be pleasant and nice surprises for our Leskovac people”, Goran Cvetanovic, Mayor of Leskovac, said.
This year, Serbia attracted 3.8 billion euros in foreign investment, which led to a growth rate of four percent and an unemployment rate of 9.5 percent. More than 33 million euros will be earmarked for active employment measures in the coming year alone, reports RTS.
