Economic development & growth in Western Balkans. The case of Serbia

Abstract

It is late 1980’s early 1990’s. Soviet Union has fallen along with the other Socialist states. One of them was Yugoslavia; at its place, variousdifferent states start to emerge. The emerging of all these states was not peaceful; on the contrary there were conflicts both political and military. Whenthese tense conflicts had come to an end, the newly formed independent states started another arduous internal battle: the battle of transformation from a centralized to a liberal economy. Despite the fact that, transfiguration of the economy in Western Balkans started approximately at the same time with the rest of ex-socialist states in Eastern Europe, Western Balkans still remain behind in terms of economic growth. What it could be a reasonable explanation for that? However, we should mention that, Western Balkans taking some serious initiatives as independent states separately in order to catch up with the other advanced EU economies.Last decade, Western Balkans has been in the spotlight for these initiatives. Tremendous step forward has been made and the first tangible results starting to appear. They had attracted not only the interest of Europe but also outside of it; since they seem to leaving behind their socialist past and opening up their economy to possible investors. The policy of opening up their countries to possible investments seems to be bringing fruitful results and the region in general can hope in a prosperous future.