Economic Development

Local economic development denotes the youngest competence of local self-government, the need and development priority of each town/municipality. The SCTM is working on (1) creating better conditions for the development of the economy and employment, (2) strengthening the capacity of the LSG to plan and implement policies, programmes, instruments, and mechanisms for local economic development, and agriculture and rural development, (3) developing and implementing programmes in the area of local economic development, (4) promotion of more efficient local services to the economy, (5) removing barriers for business at the local level, (6) improving local self-government cooperation with the economy, (7) developing support instruments for micro, small, and medium enterprises and entrepreneurs (business council, PPP), (8) branding and better positioning of towns and municipalities, (9) development of tourism at the local level.

SCTM actively cooperates with state bodies and institutions in charge of these fields, and above all with the Ministry of Economy, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management, Ministry of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications, Development Agency of Serbia, Serbian Chamber of Commerce, National Employment Service, relevant provincial secretariats, regional development agencies, and other bodies and institutions.

Legislative framework

The key regulations governing the competencies and tasks of local self-government units in these areas are: Law on Investments, Law on Tourism, Law on Agricultural Land, Law on Incentives in Agriculture and Rural Development, Law on Agriculture and Rural Development, Law on Public Private Partnership and concessions.

How SCTM contributes to economic development at the local level

SCTM intends to actively contribute to the creation of a favourable regulatory framework in these areas, taking into account that the interests of towns and municipalities are adequately represented in the dialogue with national institutions.

In order to fully implement the Law on Investments, SCTM promotes local models of acts related to the closer determination of the work of the local project team and the local investment programme as constituents of the Law. Also, through the support to simplified administrative procedures, SCTM works to reduce the barriers to business operations and create better conditions for a favourable business environment.

Since agriculture and rural development are one of the most important strategic priorities of each town/municipality, SCTM is working intensively on further support in this area, primarily through support in the development and implementation of annual programs for the protection, regulation, and use of agricultural land, as well as in the process of developing support programmes to agriculture and rural development and capacity building of towns and municipalities as a service to potential beneficiaries for the implementation of the IPARD programme.

In order to exchange experience and better use the best examples from practice, and define the organization's economic development policy, within the SCTM is actively functioning the Economic Development Committee and two networks of SCTM experts from the local level, the Local Economic Development Network and the Network for Agriculture and Rural Development.

The most important priorities of the SCTM in the coming period in this area are:

  1. Further improvements in the management of local economic development through the planning and implementation of policies, programmes, instruments, and mechanisms (LER programme, issuance of municipal bonds, PPP, business councils, branding);
  2. Improvement of the existing legal framework of importance for local economic development and participation in the proposals of new legal solutions;
  3. Intensifying the continuous cooperation between towns and municipalities with representatives of the local economy;
  4. Support to local self-government in optimizing local administrative procedures for the economy and citizens;
  5. Development of the capacity of towns and municipalities to implement the rules on granting state aid and adequately aligning state aid with local development policy;
  6. Improving the management of tourism development at the local level (development and implementation of tourism development programmes in LSG, strengthening capacities for performing inspection in the field of tourism, etc.);

Further support to towns and municipalities in the development and implementation of annual programmes for the protection, arrangement, and use of agricultural land, local programmes supporting agriculture and rural development, and strengthening the capacity of LSG as a service to potential beneficiaries for the implementation of the IPARD programme.