Competitiveness in South East Europe: A Policy Outlook 2021 is the outcome of work conducted by the OECD and six Western Balkan (WB6) economies: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo1, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The work was co-ordinated by the OECD’s South East Europe Division.
The assessment was conducted under the guidance of Andreas Schaal, Director of the OECD Global Relations Secretariat, and Marzena Kisielewska, Head of the OECD South East Europe Division.
The work was led by Martin Kohtze and Ali-Fuad Turgut (OECD South East Europe Division). The project also benefitted from the early guidance of Umur Gökçe (formerly OECD South East Europe Division).
The project benefitted from inputs by Alexander Böhmer and William Tompson (both from the OECD Global Relations Secretariat) as lead reviewers of the publication.
This report was made possible thanks to the contributions of the Competitiveness Outlook (CO) Co‑ordinators who supported the data-gathering and verification process in each WB6 economy. Our special thanks also go to 700 government officials and other stakeholders who have been actively involved across the region, whose support and dedication have made the development of this publication possible. We would like especially to acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals and organisations:
Albania: Arjana Dyrmishi (CO Co-ordinator of Albania), Eralda Shtylla (Ministry of Finance and Economy), and Elsa Dhuli (Institute of Statistics).
Bosnia and Herzegovina: Brankica Pandurević (CO Co-ordinator of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Aida Soko (CO Co-ordinator of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Nataša Žugić (CO Co-ordinator of the Republika Srpska), Ranka Bogdanović (Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Relations of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Nadir Jahić (Office of the Prime Minister of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina), Dijana Simanić (Federal Bureau of Statistics) and Jasmin Komić (Republika Srpska Institute of Statistics).
Kosovo: Hajriz Koca (CO Co-ordinator of Kosovo), Nol Buzhala (former CO Co-ordinator of Kosovo), Kreshnik Thaqi (Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade), Gent Berisha (Ministry of Industry, Entrepreneurship and Trade) and Ilir T. Berisha (Kosovo Agency of Statistics).
Montenegro: Jovana Krunić (CO Co-ordinator of Montenegro), Dušan Radonjić (former CO Co-ordinator of Montenegro) and Majda Savićević (Statistical Office of Montenegro).
North Macedonia: Stojne Danilova Ivanoski (CO Co-ordinator of North Macedonia), Daniel Josifovski (Cabinet of the Deputy President of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia) and Branko Hinikj (State Statistical Office of the Republic of North Macedonia).
Serbia: Gojko Stanivuković (CO Co-ordinator of Serbia), Verica Ignjatović (Ministry of Finance), Sanja Amanović (Ministry of Finance), Daniela Krnetić (Ministry of Finance), Bojana Tošić (Public Policy Secretariat), Dijana Ilić Zogović (Public Policy Secretariat) and Miladin Kovačević (Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia).
The principal authors of the report were Selim Guedouar, Zoé Ryan and Ali-Fuad Turgut (Chapter 4, Investment policy and promotion – Dimension 1); Jaroslaw Mrowiec (Chapter 5, Trade policy – Dimension 2); Ali-Fuad Turgut and Zoé Ryan (Chapter 6, Access to Finance – Dimension 3); Alexandre Jutand and Bert Brys (from the OECD Tax Policy and Statistics Division) in co-operation with Zoé Ryan and Ali-Fuad Turgut (Chapter 7, Tax Policy – Dimension 4); Renato Ferrandi (from the OECD Competition Division) in co-operation with Patrycja Nolbrzak (Chapter 8, Competition policy – Dimension 5); Korin Kane and Patrycja Nolbrzak (Chapter 9, State-owned enterprises – Dimension 6); Caitlyn Guthrie (from the OECD Education Policy Advice and Implementation Division) in co-operation with Matija Lojpur and Martin Kohtze (Chapter 10, Education policy – Dimension 7); Nicola Duell and Elma Aga (Chapter 11, Employment policy – Dimension 8); Marko Atanasovski, Martina Ćirić and James Hermanson (Chapter 12, Science, technology and innovation – Dimension 9); Despina Anastasiadou, Martina Ćirić and James Hermanson (Chapter 13, Digital society – Dimension 10); Danijel Vučković, Matija Lojpur and Jovana Pavlović (Chapter 14, Transport policy – Dimension 11); Andreas Pointvogl, Kai Dunker, Matija Lojpur and Jovana Pavlović (Chapter 15, Energy policy – Dimension 12); Clémence Girin and Jovana Pavlović (Chapter 16, Environment policy – Dimension 13); Stevan Orozović, Jaroslaw Mrowiec and Zoé Ryan (Chapter 17, Agriculture policy – Dimension 14); Darja Radić, Clémence Girin and Camille Hewitt (Chapter 18, Tourism policy – Dimension 15); Valts Kalniņš and Patrycja Nolbrzak (Chapter 19, Anti-corruption policy – Dimension 16). The report’s front matter and annex were prepared by Martin Kohtze, Ali-Fuad Turgut, Marija Kuzmanović, Elma Aga, Clémence Girin and Matija Lojpur.
The report benefitted from further input by Alexandre de Crombrugghe (OECD Investment Division); John Drummond, Janos Ferencz and Frederic Gonzales (OECD Trade in Services Division); Serdar Çelik (OECD Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance Division); Sean Kennedy (OECD Tax Policy and Statistics Division); Hans Christiansen and Sara Sultan (OECD Corporate Governance and Corporate Finance Division); Elizabeth Fordham and Hannah Kitchen (OECD Education Policy Advice and Implementation Division); Mark Keese and Jonathan Stöterau (OECD Skills and Employability Division); Michael Keenan and Andrés Barreneche (OECD Science and Technology Policy Division); Douglas Herrick (OECD Green Growth and Global Relations Division); Jonathan Brooks and Martin von Lampe (OECD Agriculture and Resource Policies Division); Jane Stacey and Anna Bolengo (Entrepreneurship SME and Tourism Division); Olga Savran and Rusudan Mikhelidze (OECD Anti-corruption Division); and Violeta Kogalniceanu (Energy Community Secretariat).
The publication was also reviewed and supported by the European Commission’s Directorate-General Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR); the Directorate-General Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW); and the EU Delegations in the Western Balkans. In particular, the OECD team are grateful for the contributions of Javier Menendez Bonilla and Youssef Tadros (DG NEAR).
The following local experts reviewed and provided input to the report: Edith Harxhi (Albania), ENOVA Consultants and Engineers (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Valmira Rexhëbeqaj (Kosovo), Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses (Montenegro), Trajkovski & Partners (North Macedonia), Nemanja Šormaz (Serbia), and Katarina Urošević.
The report was prepared for publication by Poeli Bojorquez (OECD South East Europe Division), with the strategic support of Robert Akam (OECD Global Relations Secretariat). It was edited and proofread by Fiona Hinchcliffe, Sally Hinchcliffe and Elizabeth Zachary. The following people also contributed to the success of the project: William Graff and Spela Berlizg.
This report has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official position of the European Union nor its Member States.