Uloga poljoprivredno-prehrambrenog sektora u povećanju izvoza Republike Srbije

Abstract

The goal of the doctoral dissertation is to examine the role of the agri-food sector in increasing the export of the Republic of Serbia. The importance of the topic stems from the fact that the trade balance deficit is a chronic problem of the Serbian economy. The approach used relies on measuring the comparative advantages of exports of this sector (and related segments) in order to look at export potentials, where the dominant place has RCA index (original and modified) and, among others, the coverage of imports by exports and Grubel-Lloyd index. In addition, the main production possibilities are presented. The research base consists of secondary data (available databases) of domestic and international institutions for the period from 2005 to 2016. The survey shows that the Republic of Serbia has no choice as to the basis for an increase in exports that reduces the deficit and achieves a macroeconomic balance. The agri-food sector is a "tradable" and highly export-oriented sector. Although the contribution to the increase in exports is lower than in other sectors, the agri-food sector most strongly contributes to the total balance by net exports. The results show that price competitiveness factors are dominant; the highest level of trade integration is with the European Union; the highest RCA index in the commodity structure in cereals and geographically in trade with CEFTA countries; while products with the highest unit export price mostly go towards the Russian Federation market where the highest comparative advantage over the total economy is recorded. In order to achieve even better performance, it is necessary to improve the production structure as this will enable the development of production, intensification of exports and higher foreign exchange income. Therefore, livestock, organic and food production should be favored, as segments that can achieve higher added value.