Serbia is a friendly country that allows anyone, including non-residents, to start a business here. The country boasts an advantageous geographical location and a rapidly growing domestic market. It provides access to the international markets on a duty-free basis and has a number of special economic zones where you can set up a company on beneficial conditions. But which business activity is most likely to succeed in Serbia? We will take a look at this question in our post. Serbia is a great country for business and banking, so do not hesitate to collect more information about it using this source or any others you can trust. The opportunities you will find are sure to inspire you!

Serbian Economy: General Facts
When you choose an industry to start a business, take into consideration your strengths, interests, and financial possibilities first of all. You may decide to build a large factory in Serbia (many European giants do). You will draw more profit than if you choose a location in other European countries, but are you ready to invest the required amounts which are naturally quite high? In most cases, you are not, so you can choose a business of a more modest scale, like a real estate agency or a web design studio.

Let’s look at the general situation in the Serbian economy to see why the country is worth investing in:

● The country’s economy is rapidly developing, so it attracts major foreign investments (about 3 to 4 billion euros on an annual basis). It boosts development even more.

● Serbian GDP is on the increase, and it steadily grows by 3% to 5% a year, so the economy has fully recovered after the pandemic when the GDP was falling.

● Major investors from EU countries, Russia, the USA, and China see Serbia as a promising country, so they compete for their share of investments. All this creates favorable conditions for economic development.

● Finally, entrepreneurs can take advantage of various tax incentives: there are special economic zones with unique conditions, tax relief is available to IT companies, and so on.

Keep in mind that you can still create a profitable business in Serbia despite the inflow of large investors, and such industries as production, services, or even raw materials extraction (to name just a few) are open to you.

Provision of Services
If you are a specialist in any field, chances are high that you will find demand for your services in Serbia unless your specialization is too narrow. Serbia is a country whose economy is considered transitional, so some activities that are widespread in developed countries may be missing here.

Feel free to engage in any type of business in the sphere of services as a company or an individual entrepreneur. You can work as a coach, a consultant in different fields, a virtual assistant, or provide translation/editing services.

Promote the service you render within Serbia and in foreign countries, and provide them remotely or personally.

If your diaspora in Serbia is large enough, you can use a popular option of providing customary services in the language native to you, and these may range from business consulting and IT to hairdresser services.

Business Managed Remotely
You can opt for Serbia for personal reasons, like living close to your family, a convenient location, or looking for new industries where you can start a business. If the functioning of your business does not depend on your place of residence, the beautiful Balkan country can be used as a comfortable place to live for you and your family.

Businesses that can be successfully run on a remote basis include content projects (such as YouTube channels, podcasts, etc.), e-commerce, SEO services, web development, design services, software development, and so on.

Food Industry
The food industry will require a little more effort at the start than the services or some other industries, of course, as you will need to obtain an alcohol license and any other mandatory permits. However, the game is worth the candle: there are 7 million people living in the country, and a vast majority of them are used to varied, delicious and high-quality food. In particular, these are such categories of residents as investors, entrepreneurs, and highly-skilled migrants from across the globe. The chances you will succeed are high!

If you feel uncomfortable about the prospect of opening a full-fledged café or restaurant or a sandwich kiosk, you can choose a business model that is very popular in developed countries: you supply food rations to your customers for a day or week. This scheme is not as widespread in Serbia at present, so you can join in with confidence.

Production and Extraction of Resources
If you feel that the extraction industry is your cup of tea, you have a chance to successfully engage in it in Serbia as there are a lot of power stations, mines, and other large-sized objects in the country that are related to extraction and processing of mineral resources. The industry is a favorite with Chinese investors, but they haven’t captured all the locations yet.

Production Industry

There are several factors that make Serbia a promising production site for future Europe:

● The cost of the labor force is not very high.

● There are a lot of SEZs (special economic zones) with zero VAT, reduced taxes, and no customs duties on some products.

● The price of electricity is among the lowest in Europe.
As soon as the production stage is over, companies can ship their goods to local points of sale or any other destinations outside Serbia.

There are major European companies (like Indesit), as well as Russian and Chinese ones that chose to locate their production facilities in Serbia, and new brands come here on a regular basis, with some investments equaling billions of euros.

Import and Export
Serbia is a major commercial hub despite the fact that it has no connection to the sea. Special economic zones and reduced (or even zero) customs duties help Serbia become a convenient transshipment area for global trade where the East and the West (as well as the North and the South) meet. The country has concluded a lot of agreements to cancel customs duties, which adds to its appeal.

Interested in Serbia? You can follow the above link to get practical information on how to set up a company and open a bank account in the Balkan country, or talk to an expert to get a customized solution for free.