You want to open an IT firm but the market in your country is oversaturated, so you are looking for other countries which would be good candidates for expanding or starting a new business. Surely there are a lot of places where you can start fresh with minimal investments, but there is usually a problem with finding good employees.
Search no more – Serbia is a place where the law is oriented to foreigner’s investments with a well-educated, intelligent and industrious workforce. This makes Serbia one of the best places for foreigner companies. Here are the main reasons why you should open an IT company in this country.
Before we present five reasons for opening an IT company in Serbia, please visit ITserbia.info, a specialized web site for IT market in Serbia.
1. Serbians are smart
Nikola Tesla and Mihajlo Pupin. Do these names sound familiar? Both of them are born Serbians and great scientists who changed the world as we know it. Besides, Serbians are generally known for being intelligent people.
Moreover, one of the most ancient civilizations in the Mesolithic period is located in Balkans. Lepenski Vir, located near Donji Milanovac, the city on the bank of the Danube, is considered to be over ten thousand years old. Archaeologists consider it to be “the first city in Europe”.
Although this is not relatable to Serbians, history suggests that Balkans was always prolific by giving the world the most brilliant people.
In fact, 17 Roman Emperors were born in this region
In fact, 17 Roman Emperors were born in this region. Maximian, Galerius, Valerius Severus, Decius, Herennius Etruscus are just some of them. But, the most famous amongst them all is Constantine the Great, founder of Constantinople. He was born in Naissus, now known as the city of Niš, the third largest city in Serbia.
Serbia’s people have this wild intelligence, and they are so proud of it. You are going to like their critical mindset and the fact they can discuss anything: world politics, philosophy, art… This is a good thing for you as a future employer. You are going to need people who can think outside the box and who like to encounter an analytical discussion.
In conclusion, Serbians are worthy workers, but they also have a dizzying intellect which will without a doubt be such a delight for you. You surely want for your employees to be creative, thorough and detail-oriented, and Serbs will definitely meet your high expectations.
Of course, not all of them are geniuses, but generally speaking, they are very well educated. More than half of a young population is attending some college, and IT Academies and College of Technology are among the most popular.
2. Serbia is a geographically good location
Knez Mihailova street, Belgrade. Serbia
Even today many people think that Balkan states are still Yugoslavia. The states that made Yugoslavia are now separated countries, but their language is still similar. This especially applies to Serbian, Croatian, – Bosnian and Montenegrin language.
The capital of Yugoslavia was Belgrade, and now this city is a county seat of Serbia. Belgrade is the largest city in the Adria region. This city is an administrative and economic centre, and also the centre of southern Europe.
The geographical position of Serbia throughout history has caused a lot of traffic in this region. It connects Western and Central Europe with Asia and Africa, which made it a natural intersection.
Serbia is currently the state in transition which is moving towards progress. Consequently, there are two main reasons why you should open an IT company in Serbia which are linked to their geopolitics:
This is a developing country which is dedicated to attracting foreign direct investments. Therefore, foreigners have various benefits if they decide to open an IT company in Serbia. Their law is on your side so you won’t have any problem whatsoever with registration and filing when starting a new business in this country.
Adria region has about 20 million residents. The total population in Serbia was estimated at 7 million people in the past year. The number of the unemployed working-age population is about 12%. This makes Serbia a high potential workforce.
Many IT companies have already discovered their capacity, so the number of IT companies is constantly growing. This is gradual progress, so there are still so many options and space for you and your company would still be considered a pioneer in this industry.
3. There is a Technical Faculty in every bigger city
In Serbia, a large number of high school graduates enrol faculties. One of the most popular and most wanted faculties is definitely a Technical Faculty. Young generations in Serbia are oriented towards the future and prosperity, so naturally, internet technologies and web design take up a huge part of their interests.
For that reason, there is a lot of Technical Faculties all around Serbia. Every large and medium-sized city has private or state faculties.
Those state faculties can be found in Belgrade, Novi Sad, Niš, Bor, Čačak, Novi Pazar and Zrenjanin. There are also a lot of private faculties in both large and small cities. Besides, many people are attending and finishing online courses in programming and engineering. So, generally speaking, Serbians have an excellent IT education, which could be a great potential for development and growing your IT company.
Education in Serbia is being done according to the principles of the Bologna Declaration. Signing this agreement made it easy for Serbians to finish college in their country and to apply for a job in every other country in Europe. Also, the education system is very similar everywhere on the continent, so if you open an IT company in Serbia you will know exactly what to expect.
It will also be very easy to have a mixed team, some of the employees can be from other parts of Europe, and others can be from Serbia. The team would surely consolidate without difficulties because all of them have a similar education thanks to the Bologna Declaration.
4. Everyone speaks English
Other countries, like India, may be a good place to start your new business, but in a very short time, you will notice a language barrier. That can make the realization of your plans much more difficult. On the other hand, the process of opening IT company in Serbia would be a lot easier because everyone speaks English.
This applies especially to the younger generations which are the main workforce of this country. Serbians start to learn English in elementary schools, and education continues throughout high schools and college. Movies and TV shows are not synchronized but subtitled and that brings them into contact with English from a very young age.
Furthermore, English is most often known as the second language and it’s used every day in business and professional communication. Serbians have the highest number of freelancers by population. This fact says two good things about them: they are good workers and they genuinely speak very good English.
Of course, not literally everyone speaks English like a native language, but most of them know it well enough to communicate and understand you. So, when you open your company you won’t have any problems with finding candidates who know it perfectly.
5. Your company won’t have many strong competitors
One of the biggest and strongest IT companies – Microsoft has a branch office in Belgrade. Other big players like Google, Facebook and Oracle are still not present at the Serbian market, but they surely will be in the near future.
You can use this opportunity to your advantage: by opening an IT company in Serbia you would become competitive before these companies come here. If you run your business successfully, you can develop enough to become a great competition in this region.
This can be a good business strategy if you are ambitious with your corporation. Be aware that this is a state with huge potential. You are going to have subventions and other financial benefits for foreign investments, you can find good and loyal workers here, and you won’t have many strong competitors. Therefore, opening an IT company in Serbia sounds like a perfect opportunity for growth and business expansion.
Time is on your side because this is a developing market, which will be recognized in the future by bigger companies. The world is living on the Internet now, and it’s Serbia’s reality too, so it’s just a matter of time when it’s going to become an oversaturated market. When it happens it would be a lot better for you to be the one who prevails in the market. The time is ticking so don’t let this great chance slip by.
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