Serbia between souverainism and globalization 4.0

For a country like Serbia, which has focused its development strategy on attracting labour-intensive foreign investments, the new scenario of globalization 4.0, centred no longer on the relocation of manufacturing activities but on the development of transnational networks for the creation of value in services, poses relevant issues for politicians and investors themselves.

The last Davos Forum definitively launched the concept of “globalization 4.0“, the acknowledgement of a transformation of international economic relations with the relocation of manufacturing activities that slows down and gives way to shorter value chains, while moving closer to the final markets, based on digital services and processes.

This new form of digital globalization is much more driven by knowledge than by capital or labour costs. In this regard, the McKinsey Institute report on which much of the debate that emerged from the last Davos Forum is based shows that less than 20% of the exchange of physical goods is now determined by low labour costs. We are therefore approaching new global economic processes that will require more broadband than the high capacity of physical traffic; the key factor of development will be the specialist skills of workers able to contribute with a high added value to the processes and much less the workforce receiving wages sufficient for mere survival.

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