Although one has the impression that investments in Serbia come mainly from the larger countries, the truth is different because data collated by the National Bank of Serbia (NBS) show that last year the Netherlands was the biggest foreign investor in Serbia, with 705.5 million euros, which is more than the amount invested by China, the U.S., Russia and the United Arab Emirates combined.
This basically means that 1/4 of the total 3 billion euros that foreigners invested in Serbia in 2020, which is more than half of the total foreign direct investments in Southeast Europe, came from this European country. In the first quarter of this year, Dutch investments amounted to 201.4 million euros.
According to the data, Serbia ranks 3rd among transition economies in terms of foreign direct investment influx last year, with Russia (9.7 billion dollars) taking first place and Kazakhstan (3.9 billion dollars) second. What will be the final balance for this year is still unknown, but what is certain is that the current investment trend continues, so much so that, in six months of this year, as much as 1.7 billion euros were invested in total.
Foreign direct investments in 2020 (top 10 countries)
The Netherlands 705.5 million euro
Slovenia 483.3
China (including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao) 478.9
Germany 331.9
Austria 153.4
The United Kingdom 106.4
USA 79.1
Russian Federation 75.2
Malta 62.3
The NBS notes that the Netherlands is in 1st place because certain foreign investors, thanks to tax breaks, make their investments from subsidiaries in this country, even if the headquarters are based in another country.
Foreign direct investment in the first quarter of 2021 (top 10 countries)
Switzerland 261.6 million euro
China (including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao) 236.1
Netherlands 201.4
Austria 533.1
France 49.7
Germany 42.1
Hungary 36.5
Luxembourg 31.4
The United States 23.8
Japan 15.8
It comes as a surprise that, apart from the Dutch, the Slovenes are on the list ahead of the Chinese. At the same time, the Russian Federation is only in eighth place with 75.2 million euros invested, which is slightly more than Malta invested in Serbia in 2020.
(Blic, 29.08.2021)
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