Real effect of Serbian “economic diplomacy”

After four years the public in Serbia, as well as business associations and resident manufacturers and exporters, do not have enough information about the results of “economic diplomats” that were chosen by the Ministry of Economy in January 2010 and dispatched worldwide in order to contribute to the development of national economy by networking and creation of new contacts.

Four years have passed since 28 economic diplomats were dispatched in 25 countries – Russia, Germany (3 individuals), Italy (2 diplomats), Greece, China, France, USA, Slovenia, UK, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYR Macedonia, Belgium, Canada, Japan, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Slovakia, Austria, Montenegro, Sweden and Czech Republic. However, the information concerning their results are not known to public or the business sector in Serbia.

Indepth analysis of data concerning the trade of goods and services with foreign countries in 2011 we can see that 65.2% of total exports was made by companies whose founders were foreign investors, while 34.8% of exports was made by companies that were majorly owned by Serbian residents. That translates to some 3.91 bilion USD worth of exports by domestic companies in 2011. However, in 2013 the share of foreign-owned companies in total exports reached 73.6%, while domestic companies contributed only 26.4%, that is, around 3.86 billion USD. So, even though the taxpayers in that period financed the stay of 28 economic diplomats abroad, we saw a reduction of income from foreign trade of the very companies which they were suposed to help enter the new markets.