1. Home
  2. Where we work
  3. Serbia

Serbia

Serbia started the EU accession talks in 2014, still ongoing. While an upper-middle income country, the unemployment rate remains high: 16% -25% in rural areas, and 40% among young people. The key challenges Serbia is facing include the pace and quality of the reform process, the still fragile labour market, and persistent social disparities accompanied by high migration and emigration rates.
Despite this, there is growing foreign direct investment and service exports thanks to its closeness to Europe.
About Serbia

COUNTRY FACTS

  • Area in km2: 77,474
  • Population: 6,974,289
  • Capital: Belgrade

Projects

View all projects from Serbia
2017 - 2029
Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Indonesia, Morocco, North Macedonia, Peru, Serbia, South Africa, Tunisia, Ukraine, Vietnam
Trade, Initial vocational education and training, Growth entrepreneurship, Sustainable tourism
Swiss Import Promotion Programme
The Swiss Import Promotion Programme (SIPPO) is a well-established mandate of the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) within the framework of its economic development cooperation. The programme has been implemented by Swisscontact since 2017 and is now in phase 3.

The overall objective of SIPPO is to integrate developing and transition countries into world trade. In a facilitation role, SIPPO advises and supports so-called Business Support Organisations (BSOs) in 11 partner countries. Through innovative and targeted export promotion services, BSOs strengthen the export capabilities of companies intending to export and facilitate market access and exports to Switzerland, the EU, and regional markets.
2015 - 2027
Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Peru, Serbia, Vietnam
Growth entrepreneurship
Swiss Entrepreneurship Program
The heart of any entrepreneurial ecosystem is the community of entrepreneurs themselves. The Swiss Entrepreneurship Program (Swiss EP) has incorporated this belief and supports building local startup communities bottom up by working with ecosystem leaders and builders since 2015. We do this by working with selected startup support organizations...

News

View all news from Serbia
Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine
15.07.2026
World Youth Skills Day: The metalworkers’ grandchildren
For most of the last half-century, the conventional wisdom about economic development pointed in one direction. Countries were urged to climb the value chain – from farms to factories to offices – and to move their young people out of overalls and into lecture halls. Manufacturing was the past; the knowledge economy was the future. It was a compelling narrative. It was also, in crucial respects, mistaken.
Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Georgia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine
09.07.2026
Making Opportunities Work: Our 2025 in Eastern Europe
Our new Annual Report, Eastern Europe 2025, is now available. It looks beyond individual results to the deeper shift underway across the region, where education is connecting more closely to employment, businesses are reaching new markets, and local systems are beginning to function differently.
Serbia
Growth entrepreneurship
27.04.2023
Consolidation of the Serbian Startup Ecosystem
In 2022 the Serbian startup ecosystem became consolidated further through verticalization, decentralization, and more regional exposure. How did it happen, and what does it mean for the main ecosystem actors?

Swisscontact in Serbia

Swisscontact in Serbia contributes to reducing un- and underemployment, especially for youth, and economic development through two projects.

The Swiss Entrepreneurship Program S-EP works with the entrepreneurial ecosystem to provide local start-ups access to improved programs, high value services, strategic and practical advice, as well as valuable international connections so they create value for the local economies.

The Swiss Import Promotion Program SIPPO works with business support organizations to strengthen their competitive position, facilitate market access and export to Switzerland, the EU, and other international and regional markets.

Swisscontact’s portfolio in Serbia is aligned with Switzerland’s development strategy in the country.

Subscribe to the Swisscontact Eastern Europe Newsletter

* indicates required

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails.

We use Mailchimp as our newsletter mailing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices.

We need your consent to load this content.

We use the service of a third-party provider to offer this content. Please check the details and accept the service to activate this plug-in.

Cookie Settings

Contact