BELGRADE (Serbia), August 30 (SeeNews) – Serbia is the global leader in terms of the number of jobs created in 2016 relative to population size, according to the Global Location Trends report of US technology company IBM.
Serbia and Macedonia are ranked first and third in the world in terms of the number of jobs created last year compared to the size of their population, with both countries continuing to build on the strong momentum they have developed in the last three-to-four years, IBM said in the report issued on Tuesday.
Moldova is the newest emerging investment destination, the report said. The country ranked sixth in the ranking, while Croatia and Romania were placed 11th and 19th, respectively.
"These results show that the Western Balkans are now firmly on the radar of foreign investors, with companies increasingly viewing some of the countries in the region as attractive locations for their expansions in Europe," the IBM said in the report.
Serbia ranked 13th in the world in terms of the total number of jobs created in 2016, after showing a growth of more than 25% in inward investment, while Romania was 18th.
The positive result of Serbia is a result of the work done by the government led by former prime minister and incumbent president Aleksandar Vucic to improve the business climate in the country in 2016, public broadcaster RTS quoted economy minister Goran Knezevic as saying on Wednesday.
Serbia aims to rank among the top 20 countries in the World Bank Group’s ease of doing business ranking by 2020, infrastructure minister Zorana Mihajlovic said in February.
In October, the World Bank said that Serbia climbed to the 47th position in its "Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All" report on the back of the business reforms implemented by the country and the simplification of the procedures for starting a business, dealing with construction permits, and registering property.