Brnabic chairs session of council set up to boost GDP

BELGRADE - Serbian PM Ana Brnabic on Tuesday chaired a session of a council coordinating activities and measures for boosting GDP growth.

The council reviewed local and global trends, economic growth projections for this year and possibilities for maintaining the country's financial stability.

The session was also attended by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic.

The council said the tourism, IT and services sectors had posted good results and that measures aimed at attracting FDI had been a major driving force of the national economy last year and an additional impetus to job creation, the Serbian government press office said in a statement.

Also, the services sector was the dominant driving force of economic growth last year, the statement said.

The council stressed the significance of investing in further natural disaster protection measures, above all, in radar-based anti-hail systems, irrigation systems and field electrification, the council said.

Particular emphasis was placed on additional incentives for livestock farming, which has been on a decline in recent years, and the Agriculture Ministry will also work on reviewing the criteria for participation in the IPARD programme to enable more registered farms to apply for European funds.

To maintain sustainable economic growth, further investments are needed in capital projects in road and railway infrastructure, as is efficient budget implementation in health care, the energy sector, environmental protection and sports and utility infrastructure.

To unleash the full potential of private investments in Serbia, the measures the council will monitor during the year include the speed of issuing location and construction permits.

The council concluded that further encouragement of dual education was extremely important considering the market needs and the fact that getting jobs and higher salaries was easier for pupils from the dual education system.