Mali: Presentation of the Program for the Development of Serbia until 2035 in approximately ten days

The Minister of Finance of Serbia, Sinisa Mali, announced on Monday that the proposal for the Development Program until 2030 and 2035 will be presented in around ten days.

- In the next ten or so days, we will come out with a proposal for the program as we see the development of Serbia from 2028 to 2030 and from 2030 to 2035 - he said at the 33rd Kopaonik Business Forum and announced that a new investment cycle will begin in 2028 based on the international specialized exhibition EXPO 2027.

He stated that an important part of that plan is the continuation of the construction of the missing infrastructure.

- We have to finish all the highways and expressways that we planned - said the Minister of Finance, stating that this is the basis for all further projects.

Mali pointed out that an important part of that plan is education reform.

- Human capital is becoming an obstacle for further accelerated growth and development - said Mali and emphasized that Serbia must not lag behind in this segment.

He added that energy could be an obstacle to the further growth of the Serbian economy if its development is not carried out in the right way.

He announced that therefore, in the proposal of the Development Program until 2030 and 2035, investments in that area will be presented, "in order to increase the production of green electricity and thereby ensure production for further stable growth of the domestic economy".

He also emphasized that the use of artificial intelligence (AI) will cause major changes in the labor market, which is why the state must be ready.

- We want to export more and increase productivity. It is a puzzle that must be put together through investment in human capital, AI, traffic infrastructure, energy, education - Mali said.

He told businessmen and economists, participants of the Kopaonik Business Forum, that they must not neglect the role of AI when talking about industrial policies.

He added that humanoid robots will soon perform the work of humans, and that these are changes that cannot be ignored and that this is the near future.

He pointed out that Serbia is working hard to welcome such changes.

- We have adopted the eInvoice system, from this year the eOtpremnice started, we also have the eFiskalizacija and eAkcize system - said Mali.

He stated that digitization has enabled faster data exchange.

- AI is also being introduced in the way revenues are predicted, debt is controlled, public debt is controlled and optimized, the structure of currencies is also being looked at, which is the best moment to enter the capital market - said the Minister of Finance.

He also reminded that the Data Center was built in Kragujevac, as well as that Serbia bought a second supercomputer.

He also pointed out that the Plan "Serbia 2020-2025", which provided for the investment of EUR 14 billion in various areas, was exceeded when it comes to the total volume of investments.

Mali also said that the construction works related to the specialized international exhibition "EXPO 2027" will be completed this year and that, starting May 15 next year, Serbia will be ready to welcome three to four million visitors and host representatives of over 130 countries.

He repeated that it will be the biggest event in the history of Serbia, the biggest event in the world next year, and the most successful in terms of the number of participants of specialized EXPO exhibitions in history, as well as the source of Serbia's growth.

Speaking about the country's economy, he stated that Serbia has a slow growth rate due to instability in the country throughout the past year, even though the economy grew by two percent.

- This year we are going for three percent economic growth, and next year up to five percent, maybe even more - said Mali.

He also pointed out that the country's public debt currently amounts to 41.5 percent of GDP, while the Eurozone average is around 88 percent.

- We have EUR three billion in our cash account, and record foreign exchange reserves, and record gold reserves, a low share of public debt in GDP. If the state needs to react as it did in 2022, it will react - said Mali.

Ministarstvo finansija Republike Srbije

Sinisa Mali

Development Program of Serbia until 2035

energy

transport infrastructure

AI