Serbia’s economic development, based on knowledge and innovation, will be fueled by a new World Bank loan of 48 million dollars approved by the World Bank Board of Directors.
This loan, granted on Friday, will fund the advancement of the importance and quality of scientific research that has the potential to be commercialized. It will provide funding for the development of businesses involved, the World Bank said.
In addition, it is alleged, this loan will fund the activities of the newly established Science Fund, and will support cooperation between local researchers and businessmen with people from the Serbian diaspora.
“Although Serbia’s innovative and entrepreneurial potential is growing, it is hampered by low public and private investment in R&D, inefficient, uncompetitive science funding, and little private-public collaboration”, the statement said.
The World Bank points out that entrepreneurship in Serbia has progressed and promises to be of increasing importance, but the lack of necessary skills, knowledge, mentoring and financing for innovative companies hinders their further growth, says Stephen Ndegwa, head of the World Bank Office in Serbia.
“Only about 0.9 percent of Serbia’s social product is invested in R&D. This is well below the 2.03 percent investment in the European Union on average. Most of the money comes from the state. This shows that the private sector is investing incredibly little in R&D and innovation, which is a market weakness. This requires that government funding and other types of incentives otherwise stimulate market innovation”.
In addition to financing the institutional development and management of the Science Fund, this loan will, as usual, be used for Science Foundation projects selected through a competitive process.
“This refers to grants for basic research, grants for applied research that promote the cooperation of public and private institutions in R&D as well as encourage cooperation with EU partners. Through this project, funded by a World Bank loan, it will help researchers to find foreign funding and opportunities for international cooperation, as well as institutional reforms in individual scientific institutions”, the statement said.
Continuing long-standing support from the World Bank, together with the EU, the Serbian Development Fund, this loan will also finance grants for accelerated development of innovative businesses. This program will support mentoring, investor access, entry into new markets.
“This support will be provided for two types of activities: one in early development (at the level of ideas) and the other for the growth (expansion) of innovative firms. A total of 40 companies will be included. Knowledge sharing with domestic and foreign innovation centers, incubators and securing early-stage financing for the firm are cornerstones of this program”, the World Bank said.
