On January 21, the Government of the Republic of Serbia formally adopted a series of measures proposed by the National Competitiveness Council to improve the country's competitive position. The 38 recommendations are concrete actions to advance Serbia's competitiveness and were formulated by five working groups in key areas, including infrastructure, energy efficiency, goods market efficiency, human capital and innovations, and public administration.

The objective of these measures is to remove administrative obstacles to doing business and improve implementation of legislation. Proposed actions include adoption of by-laws related to the Law on Protection of Competition to further clarify competition policy and the Law on Planning and Construction to improve efficiency and transparency in issuing construction permits. Other suggestions include that local communal taxes be reduced in line with regional taxes to compete for foreign investment; drafting a Law on Rational Energy Use to promote energy efficiency; and introducing performance metrics for universities in terms of timely graduation and job placements for consideration in allocation of budget resources.

The USAID Serbia Competitiveness project has been supporting the work of the National Competitiveness Council and is actively involved in development and implementation of policy measures that will lead improvements in Serbia's competitive position in international markets.