Competitiveness of the agri-food sector of the Republic of Serbia

Abstract

The competitiveness of the agri-food products is one of the key factors for promoting export and economic development, especially in developing countries. Competitiveness can be influenced by increasing productivity, applying modern knowledge, innovating processing capacities and producing a high-quality final product with high added value. The agriculture of Serbia is very important for economic growth. In order to improve the competitive advantage of the agri-food sector in foreign markets, it is important to increase its efficiency by introducing modern technologies and approaches. The subject of the paper is to examine the most important export agri-food products of Serbia, as well as the most important markets for their exports. Using the RCA and ARCA indices, the comparative advantages of these products in trade were examined, which is the goal of the research. Multiple regression was then also used to examine the impact on exports. Although significant agri-food products achieve comparative advantages, the decline in their competitiveness has a negative impact on exports. Low pricing policies, as well as inadequate product quality cannot maintain competitiveness in the long run. The structure of the export of agricultural products is also unsatisfactory, bearing in mind that they are products with a low level of processing, and low added value. Therefore, it is necessary to invest in modern equipment, develop innovative approaches, such as organic production and the introduction of innovations to improve quality standards, differentiate products and create a final product with high added value, as important prerequisites for improving competitiveness and promoting the export of the agri-food sector.