We expect Minister Pisano to visit Serbia in the first half of 2020 when we will present the initiative and organize a meeting of relevant stakeholders in the innovative ecosystem of both Serbia and Italy
Italy and Serbia have good cooperation in almost all segments. In the future, the focus will be on greater cooperation in the IT technology and innovation sector. In an interview for Diplomacy&Commerce, the Serbian Minister for Innovation and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, Nenad Popović talks about these plans. Two and a half years ago, the Serbian government formed a special ministry for innovation. Minister Nenad Popović sums up his impressions: “When I assumed the position of Minister of Innovation and Technological Development two and a half years ago, we were faced with many challenges that the young Serbian innovation ecosystem experienced. We have identified boosting the cooperation between the state, academia and economy, construction of innovation infrastructure, improvement of regulations in the field of innovation, provision of conditions for the creation of as many start-ups as possible and creation of more hightech jobs as our main tasks. Since then, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, with the support of the President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has done a lot to achieve these goals. ”
How much progress has been made in this area and what awaits us in 2020?
– The budget for innovation and digitization has been increased 10-fold compared to the allocations in this area in 2017. The construction of six capital innovation facilities, worth over 60 million euro, which are of strategic importance for improving the state of the innovation ecosystem in the Republic, is underway in Serbia. One of those projects is the recently opened Science and Technology Park at the University of Novi Sad. We have so far opened eight regional innovation startup centres all over Serbia, and in 2020, we will open 6 more in those Serbian towns that don’t have universities.We are creating conditions for young people throughout our country to have a level playing field and the best support for launching and grow their startup companies and innovative products and services. In terms of the legislative framework, we have introduced significant tax breaks for innovative companies.
R&D costs are doubled in tax calculation. Revenues predominantly generated by the locally sourced intellectual property are taxed at only 3%, compared to the usual 15%. Companies that invest in startups are eligible for a tax credit of 30% of the investment. The value of Serbian export of information and communication services (ICT) in 2018 reached a record 1.13 billion euro, and we expect that the relevant data for 2019 will show that this amount has reached a record 1.5 billion euro. This is higher than the export of Serbian agriculture, Fiat or Smederevo Ironworks. At the same time, ICT is by far the healthiest industry that has recorded a significant positive external trade balance. In 2020, we will continue to do our best to improve conditions in the Serbian innovation ecosystem. I believe that we have achieved significant results in these two and a half years, which should also be credited to the many partners from the academic and business sectors, as well as several international partners. I would like to use this opportunity to thank them for their openness and support and to point out that we will continue to work in the service of the innovation community and on improving the environment for innovation development and startup companies. We expect new financing models for innovation to become available through the development of venture capital markets, further improvement of innovation infrastructure and the construction of the Serbian-Chinese industrial park Borča, as well as through the implementation of new projects aimed at promoting innovation and innovative entrepreneurship.
What is Serbia’s rank on the list of the countries that are good at innovating?
— As a result of the state policy implemented in this field so far, and the efforts of the Government and the entire innovation community on developing the innovation ecosystem in Serbia, in 2019, for the first time, our country was included in the most relevant research on startup ecosystems in the world called “Global Startup Ecosystem Report“, written by the US organization Startup Genome, based in San Francisco. In an analysis that covered over 50 of the most developed ecosystems, Serbia is the only country from this region that was included in the survey and had the best ranking. It got a 10 for investment growth and 9 for the growth of the total number of startup companies. Belgrade and Novi Sad are recognized as unique startup ecosystems, in addition to London, Tel Aviv, Barcelona and Helsinki, and ranked among the top five ecosystems in Europe in the segment of gaming and blockchain. The talented workforce and top-notch engineering staff have been identified as a key asset of the Serbian ecosystem, as they were ranked among the top five in the world.
What is Serbia’s rank on the list of the countries that are good at innovating?
— As a result of the state policy implemented in this field so far, and the efforts of the Government and the entire innovation community on developing the innovation ecosystem in Serbia, in 2019, for the first time, our country was included in the most relevant research on startup ecosystems in the world called “Global Startup Ecosystem Report“, written by the US organization Startup Genome, based in San Francisco. In an analysis that covered over 50 of the most developed ecosystems, Serbia is the only country from this region that was included in the survey and had the best ranking. It got a 10 for investment growth and 9 for the growth of the total number of startup companies. Belgrade and Novi Sad are recognized as unique startup ecosystems, in addition to London, Tel Aviv, Barcelona and Helsinki, and ranked among the top five ecosystems in Europe in the segment of gaming and blockchain. The talented workforce and top-notch engineering staff have been identified as a key asset of the Serbian ecosystem, as they were ranked among the top five in the world.
Who should be our role models so that we can become even more innovative as individuals, companies and the state?
— Serbia can be proud of its innovators Nikola Tesla, Mihailo Pupin and others. These are examples that show that our nation, while not being a big country population-wise, has the power and ideas that can change the course of civilization. Unfortunately, Serbia has a very tumultuous period of wars and sanctions that has left its mark on our industry and because of which we have been lagging behind other countries, but technological development, innovation and digitization are our chance to bridge this gap and catch up to the most developed European countries. I often cite Novak Djoković as an example of Serbian innovation. During the NATO bombing, when Novak could not train like any other tennis player, he trained in an empty swimming pool. He found a way to use the — The budget for innovation and digitization has been increased 10-fold compared to the allocations in this area in 2017. The construction of six capital innovation facilities, worth over 60 million euro, which are of strategic importance for improving the state of the innovation ecosystem in the Republic, is underway in Serbia. One of those projects is the recently opened Science and Technology Park at the University of Novi Sad. We have so far opened eight regional innovation startup centres all over Serbia, and in 2020, we will open 6 more in those Serbian towns that don’t have universities. We are creating conditions for young people throughout our country to have a level playing field and the best support for launching and grow their startup companies and innovative products and services. In terms of the legislative framework, we have introduced significant tax breaks for innovative companies. R&D costs are doubled in tax calculation. Revenues predominantly generated by the locally sourced intellectual property are taxed at only 3%, compared to the usual 15%. Companies that invest in startups are eligible for a tax credit of 30% of the investment. The value of Serbian export of information and communication services (ICT) in 2018 reached a record 1.13 billion euro, and we expect that the relevant data for 2019 will show that this amount has reached a record 1.5 billion euro. This is higher than the export of Serbian agriculture, Fiat or Smederevo Ironworks.
At the same time, ICT is by far the healthiest industry that has recorded a significant positive external trade balance. In 2020, we will continue to do our best to improve conditions in the Serbian innovation ecosystem. I believe that we have achieved significant results in these two and a half years, which should also be credited to the many partners from the academic and business sectors, as well as several international partners. I would like to use this opportunity to thank them for their openness and support and to point out that we will continue to work in the service of the innovation community and on improving the environment for innovation development and startup companies. We expect new financing models for innovation to become available through the development of venture capital markets, further improvement of innovation infrastructure and the construction of the Serbian-Chinese industrial park Borča, as well as through the implementation of new projects aimed at promoting innovation and innovative entrepreneurship.
What is Serbia’s rank on the list of the countries that are good at innovating?
— As a result of the state policy implemented in this field so far, and the efforts of the Government and the entire innovation community on developing the innovation ecosystem in Serbia, in 2019, for the first time, our country was included in the most relevant research on startup ecosystems in the world called “Global Startup Ecosystem Report“, written by the US organization Startup Genome, based in San Francisco. In an analysis that covered over 50 of the most developed ecosystems, Serbia is the only country from this region that was included in the survey and had the best ranking. It got a 10 for investment growth and 9 for the growth of the total number of startup companies. Belgrade and Novi Sad are recognized as unique startup ecosystems, in addition to London, Tel Aviv, Barcelona and Helsinki, and ranked among the top five ecosystems in Europe in the segment of gaming and blockchain. The talented workforce and top-notch engineering staff have been identified as a key asset of the Serbian ecosystem, as they were ranked among the top five in the world.
Who should be our role models so that we can become even more innovative as individuals, companies and the state?
— Serbia can be proud of its innovators Nikola Tesla, Mihailo Pupin and others. These are examples that show that our nation, while not being a big country population-wise, has the power and ideas that can change the course of civilization. Unfortunately, Serbia has a very tumultuous period of wars and sanctions that has left its mark on our industry and because of which we have been lagging behind other countries, but technological development, innovation and digitization are our chance to bridge this gap and catch up to the most developed European countries. I often cite Novak Djoković as an example of Serbian innovation. During the NATO bombing, when Novak could not train like any other tennis player, he trained in an empty swimming pool. He found a way to use the circumstances in his environment to the best of his abilities and become the best in the world. We can easily find an analogy in business and how companies should think outside the established framework and find their opportunity in that space. In terms of national policies aimed at the development of innovation and innovation ecosystem, we can look up to Switzerland, the United States, the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Israel and some of the EU Member States such as Italy, France, Germany, Sweden and Finland. No country has a perfect innovation ecosystem, but the countries I have mentioned above generally have some aspects that are specially developed and these are examples from which we can learn, and try to adapt and apply the best practices in Serbia. The United States has a large number of startup companies, the so-called spin-off companies, while their universities are also engaged in innovative activities. Take Stanford or Harvard, for example. The University of Novi Sad in Serbia is another fantastic example, with more than 120 startup companies that today employ thousands of engineers A recognizable combination of entrepreneurial spirit and technology transfer has made Israel famous worldwide as a startup nation. France is another excellent example of regional development and cluster organization. Italy has a developed industry which is a platform for testing and validating innovative solutions. We want to gather knowledge and experience from our international partners and put that knowledge to use in boosting the capacity of the Serbian economy.
In December, you met with the Italian Minister of Innovation Technology and Digitization, Paola Pisano in Rome. What was the topic of this meeting?
— We had a great meeting. We have many topics in common since Italy has also established a special innovation ministry for the first time, with Ms Pisano appointed the Minister of Innovation. We talked about a platform for connecting Serbian and Italian innovation companies with the aim of having joint collaboration and implementation of projects. We expect Minister Pisano to visit Serbia in the first half of 2020 when we will present to her the initiative and organize a meeting of relevant stakeholders of the innovative ecosystem of Serbia and Italy.
What can Serbia learn from the Italian experience?
— I think we can learn a lot from each other. Italy and Serbia share a common vision, that is to base their economies on knowledge, innovation and new technologies, and to focus their innovation policy on the development of artificial intelligence, robotics, smart cities and the digitization of industry and public administration. Italy has excellent experimental innovation zones in smart cities and 5G technology. This is an interesting concept that we can apply in Serbia too, in cooperation with Italian partners, through the use of international funds, which is something that organizations in Italy are very successful at.
How big is the potential for cooperation in this field?
— The potential is great. Almost 2,000 Italian companies operate in Serbia, and Italy is today the second most important export market for Serbia. The most relevant Italian business association, Confindustria is very active in Serbia and has a large number of members. Serbs and Italians love to cooperate and I think that this cooperation will make significant progress in the coming period, especially in innovation, new technologies and digitization. Great potential lies in the fact that our countries are geographically close, as this facilitates participation in multilateral initiatives and cooperation on projects under the EU programmes.
Are you satisfied with the cooperation so far?
— I am very satisfied. We have excellent relations with both Minister Pisano and the Italian business community in Serbia assembled around Confindustria Serbia. I believe that this is the beginning of cooperation with our Italian partners, which will result in new partnerships between Italian and Serbian companies and universities, joint projects and development of innovation ecosystems of our two countries.