“The Economist”, British weekly magazine, reports that digital technology is currently the fastest growing Serbian industry. It predicts that lithium production could be on second place, considering that " Serbia is sitting on one of the continent’s largest reserves of lithium, an essential ingredient for the batteries of electric cars.." It is alleged that company “Rio Tinto” has invested $ 200 million in exploring locations near Loznica and, if approved by the company's management, production would start in 2025.
The Economist states that the technology sector, which employs 45,000 people, accounts for at least 6% of Serbia's GDP, and that the Government of Serbia's investment in digital infrastructure is $ 79 million.
The British weekly quoted Zoja Kukic from “Digital Serbia Initiative”: “Over the past six years, foreign companies have invested more than $ 500 million in Serbian startup companies".
“The Economist” points out that last year's IT sector exports reached 1.4 billion euros ($ 1.5 billion), up 55% from 2017.
Specially point is on the contribution of skilled Diaspora Serbs to the IT sector, who have returned to Serbia, with IT skills, contacts and capital, is pointed out - “The technology sector is one of the few that lures qualified people to return to Serbia. Many people in the industry, including Dragan Tomovic, who runs the Microsoft Development Center in Belgrade, are made up of Serbs from the diaspora ... "
It’s added that coding is part of the education system in Serbia, which is taught in elementary schools, and that the number of graduates prepared for technology jobs is 5,000 annually. - “Blockchain and gaming development already make a big part of Serbia's digital economy. "Top Eleven," a football game by “Nordеus”, Serbia's best-known tech company, has 219 million registered users. "
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