CHALLENGES AND PERSPECTIVES OF IMPLEMENTATION STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE SERBIAN ECONOMY

The main purpose of this chapter is to analyse the pace of structural changes in the Serbian economy predominantly through comparative analysis with other countries of Western Balkans i.e. to identify the progress made in implementation these changes, main challenges and to perceive whether and in what way the concept should be modified. The analysis is mainly based on the surveys of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (Transition Indicators), World Bank (Doing business), World Economic Forum (Index of International Competitiveness) and Heritage Foundation (Index of Economic Freedom). The results of these surveys indicate that Serbia currently has not been well positioned in terms of implementing transitional changes, conditions for doing business, level of competitiveness and economic freedom. What is especially worrying is the fact the implementation of structural reforms and business conditions improvements in Serbia are very slow, particularly in the last couple of years. Nevertheless, it is clear that without more pro-active policy and strong-minded implementation of structural changes, Serbia will increasingly lag behind other countries of the region and that will only hinder its existing position.