The Minister of Information and Telecommunications, Mihailo Jovanović, said today that the export of the Serbian ICT sector this year recorded an increase of as much as 40 percent.
Jovanović added that the adoption of the Law on Information Security, the draft of which is under public discussion and foresees the establishment of the Office for Information Security, is essential for the development, sustainability and security of IT systems key to the functioning of Serbia.
“It is interesting that until now we have had an annual growth of about 25 percent, when it comes to the export of the ICT sector, and this year we have a growth of even 40 percent.” Last year’s result, when it comes to exports of 2.7 billion, was a record. It is mostly exported to the USA, England and Switzerland. It is very important that the surplus is large – out of the 1.4 billion exports for this period this year, there is a 1.24 billion surplus,” Jovanović said.
The participation of the ICT sector in GDP is 11 percent
As he stated, the increased export of the Serbian ICT sector is the result of the development of innovations. The minister also stated that the participation of the ICT sector in the GDP went to 11 percent and that Serbia is becoming recognizable as a country of IT, technology and development.
“It is very significant, because thanks to innovation we create that added value and thanks to that we also improve our economy and infrastructure. This will further lead to an increase in standards and an increase in salaries and pensions in Serbia,” the minister pointed out.
Jovanović said that the draft Law on Information Security envisages harmonization with the so-called NIS2 directive of the European Union and that one must follow the steps when it comes to data protection, protection of IT systems and continuous provision of IT services.
Formation of the Office for Information Security
He says that the draft law envisages the establishment of the Office for Information Security, which will also work preventively with all business entities that have IT systems and which are recognized as priority in the spirit of this law.
“If there are any problems, the Information Security Office gets involved.” According to this law, those incidents are divided into four levels – low, medium, high and very high. In the first three cases, the Office is involved, and if a problem occurs that is very high-ranking, then the Government of
Serbia is involved and takes over the coordination of all state bodies in solving that problem,” said Jovanović.
As an example of Serbia’s development, he also cited the fact that the Ministry of Interior issued permits for test driving for two autonomous vehicles in Serbia.
Sign up for business updates & specials.
