The development of IT industry forms part of Serbia’s economy reindustrialization strategy. Economic recovery can be intensified through direct foreign investments, which the Serbian government is striving for. This is confirmed by the investments of EU, Russian, Chinese and Arab companies, among others. Investments in several fields – agriculture, infrastructure, river and air transport, etc. – have been agreed upon with the United Arab Emirates and one of the major deals is being announced by company “Mubadala”, which is planning to build a chip factory. More on this in International Economic Review, prepared by Jelena Milenković.

Serbia has adopted a strategy owing to which it will become the most attractive country in southeastern Europe as far as investments in the IT sector are concerned. The government is providing additional incentives for software manufacturers, so Serbian experts can easily place their knowledge on the international market. The good geostrategic position of Serbia and its experts in the field of information technologies have drawn one of the leading companies of the world in this field - “Mubadala”, of the UAE. Government officials assess that investments from Abu Dhabi, on the basis of a bilateral agreement, would amount to hundreds of million of euros and, should “Mubadala” plans come true, could reach even one billion euros. This company has a rich network of plants in the UAE, the USA and Europe and its development is based on constant expansion and investments. Intensive development of IT technologies, wireless devices, cell phones and tablets, in which chips are installed, contributes to this. The building of a chip factory would represent the biggest investment in Serbia in the past four decades and the major one in the IT industry and Serbia would be one of the few countries in the world to produce sophisticated components for IT devices.

The Serbian government and “Mubadala” representatives have discussed the project, which could be realized in several phases. The most important phase would be the first one – the building of a research centre and a chip factory in Serbia. The centre would employ fifty top experts in the IT field and the factory would employ another 1,000. As announced from the government, „Mubadala“ is to bring supreme technologies to Serbia, which so far have been encountered by the leading world powers only. The business deal could turn Serbia into a regional IT leader.

A daughter-company of “Mubadala”, ATIC (Advanced Technology Investment Company), is planning to build a factory of sophisticated components for air industry in Serbia. If negotiations prove successful and the investment, worth 4 billion euros, is realized, the factory could employ several thousand experts. Radio Srbija