Digital Serbia: Asian Market Should Be Considered for Diversification of Exports of IT Sector from Serbia

The director of the Digital Serbia Initiative, Nebojsa Bjelotomic, has stated that more than 90% of the exports of the IT sector from Serbia went to Europe and the USA and pointed out that the Asian market should be considered.

At the conference “How to Succeed in Asia from Serbia”, held at Hotel Crowne Plaza in Belgrade, Bjelotomic said for the Beta news agency that the exports of the IT sector from Serbia amounted to USD 2.5 billion in 2022, and that, of that amount, only 15 million pertained to the markets of Southeast Asia and Japan, despite them being very advanced when it comes to the use of IT technologies.

He added that, regarding the diversification of the exports of Serbian startups and companies from that field, endeavors in the markets of Southeast Asia and Japan were precisely what needed to be considered.

– There’s a kind of a rule that, when you go to Asia, Singapore is the first stop, which enables an easier penetration of the Asian market, so today we are very satisfied that we are joined by colleagues from the Enterprise Singapore state agency, which enables companies to reach Singapore more easily and Singaporean companies to come in contact with those from other markets – Bjelotomic said.

He said that Digital Serbia, together with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was carrying out the accelerator program NINJA at that moment, aiming to prepare local startups for an entry to the Asian market.

The director for Singapore of the Asia-Africa Investment & Consulting (AAIC), Shigeru Handa, said in his address at the conference that Singapore, India, Pakistan, the Philippines and Hong Kong could be some of the countries that could facilitate the penetration of the market, because they each had English as one of the official languages.

– When we look at the GDP, although 50% of the world population lives in Asia, the Asian GDP comprises 30% of the global one, so there’s great potential for further growth. In the past five years, Asia has had the biggest GDP growth. Although it is far away, there’s great potential in Asia – Handa said.

He expressed hope that Serbian startups, along with the European and American markets, would also consider the option of entering the Asian market, although, according to him, it is always a challenge to enter a new market.

The minister of science, technological development and innovations of Serbia, Jelena Begovic, said that innovations could contribute to the development of new markets and the diversification of business activities and pointed out that they were necessary for the growth and development of the economy, but also the entire society.

According to her, the commercialization and internationalization of local innovative solutions are also of huge importance for the development of local economy, especially when it comes to Serbia, as a relatively small country.

– On one hand, there is a small scientific ecosystem that we have to concentrate, but it has great potential, but also a smaller market compared to the enormous and significant market of Asia. I believe that we should truly use this opportunity to mutual benefit and help Serbia develop further – Begovic said.

Ministarstvo nauke, tehnološkog razvoja i inovacija Republike Srbije

Inicijativa Digitalna Srbija

Ministry of Science Technological Development and Innovations

Digital Serbia Initiative

Enterprise Singapore

accelerator program NINJA

Japan International Cooperation Agency

JICA

Asia Africa Investment and Consulting

AAIC

Nebojša Bjelotomić

Shigeru Handa

Jelena Begović

Europe

Asia

Crowne Plaza

Southeast Asia

exports of IT sector

preparation of local startups for Asian market