The Eastern European country of Serbia is trying to make the difficult transition into the digital economy model of the 21st Century. After decades under communism, the nation has struggled to expand its economy through traditional goods and services. Now, it wishes to take on the digital marketplace, seeing that as a way to quickly grow in a modern world.
The World Bank has announced that it is ready to help Serbia make that transition. In its annual development report, the World Bank noted, "countries who invest more into digital technologies achieve bigger growth." As a result, Tony Verheijen, World Bank Country Manager for Serbia announced Thursday that he was pleased the World Bank would be able to assist Serbia to step into this new marketplace.
"We wish to help Serbia so that in the following 4 to 5 years it can benefit more from the implementation of new technologies with private business as the driving force of its economy, and not state companies" he said.
In the World Bank's 2016 Development Report, Serbia ranked among upper middle income countries that were transitioning towards a digital economy. Unfortunately, according to that same report, only about four to five percent of Serbia's GDP came out of the digital marketplace. Thus, the World Bank feels Serbia, and nations like it, should be "build[ing] effective competition regulation and enforcement capacity, teach[ing] advanced cognitive and socio-emotional skills that complement technology, and [moving] toward effective e-government system."
According to the Shanghai Daily, Verheijen said that Serbia should invest more of its resources in digital infrastructure and pursue private-public partnerships if it wishes to reach its goals. He also lauded Serbia for adopting an e-government strategy that puts a number of public services (like registering birth certificates, obtaining building permitting, etc.) online.
This practice not only helps the government lead the way into the digital space by example, it will also help to reduce administrative costs and man hours, both for government employees and those needing to make use of these services. On the other hand, Verheijen noted a number of areas where Serbia's push into the digital world still needs improvement. He believes that the e-government offerings should cover more government services, like pensions, healthcare, education, and more.
While the details of what, if any, assistance the World Bank will provide Serbia have yet to be determined, it appears Serbia is already excited about the prospect of working with the Bank to achieve the nation's digital goals. Marko Cades, President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, said that digital technologies have great importance for not only citizens, but also the economy and the state, itself, because they create new work places.
As a result of these environments being based on high technology, knowledge, and well-developed infrastructure, they not only expand the possible job base, but provide incentive and means to improve the overall quality of life for the nation as a whole.
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Quelle/Source: Economy Watch, 12.02.2016
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