Jovanovic: Serbian IT sector exports exceeded 3.5 bln euros in 2023

BELGRADE - Serbia's Minister of Information and Telecommunications Mihailo Jovanovic says Serbian IT sector exports exceeded 3.5 bln euros in 2023.

Speaking to Tanjug, Jovanovic announced a tender for a 5G network would be launched by end-2024 and that Belgrade would get a new innovation centre, as well as that efforts would be made to increase the capacities of the Data Centre and develop driverless vehicles for EXPO 2027.

"In the period to come, we will know the exact estimate of the sector's exports in the year that is behind us, but it is quite certain the results will be fantastic and that the value will exceed 3.5 bln euros because Serbian ICT sector exports in the first ten months of 2023 stood at 2.8 bln euros, up by as much as 100 mln compared to the record year of 2022," Jovanovic said, noting that IT sector exports had totalled 2.7 bln euros in 2022, compared to just 375 mln in 2012.

He said Serbia had a surplus in the ICT sector and that the US, the UK and Switzerland accounted for the bulk of the sector's exports.

When asked if the development of the Serbian IT scene was a result of the arrival of foreign investors or a consolidation of locally-owned SMEs, Jovanovic said the many reasons behind Serbia's good results in the IT sector included systemic measures by the Serbian government that had helped boost local workforce in the sector.