STRENGHTS

Favorable geographical position RESOURCES:
Natural: arable farm land, forests, waters (thermal, drinking, rivers) non-metals (stone, clay, quartz sand), rare ores (antimony, lead, zinc), lignite deposits and extraction, power potentials; Intellectual: over 15,000 highly skilled workforce; Tourist: spas, mountains, rivers, cultural-historical heritage, unpolluted natural environment; Investment sites and free zones;
Locations for the infrastructures and communications (Sava River waterway, Cargo-Transpot Center, Belgrade-Bar railway, corridor to the South Adriatic, airport);
Developed industrial capacities;
Export orientation (especially in the food industry);
Available capital, workforce and raw materials;
Good FDI track records.

WEAKNESSES

Privatization process not complete;
Absence of a national economic development strategy;
Low presence of highly-sophisticated industries;
Transition resulting social problems;
Unfavorable export structure;
Constraints to rural tourism development:
fragmented farm estates, aging population, absence of adequate infrastructure;
Obsolete mechanical equipment and technology;
Legislation in transition process;
Inadequate system of education;
Unfavorable financing conditions;
Lack of available developed sites for investments in some municipalities

OPPORTUNITIES

Growth trend in the number of enterprises with certified processes in compliance with quality standards - QMS, EMS, HACCP;
Opportunities for industrial cooperation and clustering (wood, textile, printing,metal-processing, food, construction and construction materials industry);
Establishment of high forms of business corporation based on joint ventures;
Consolidation of farm estates;
Specialization in production processes;
New technologies and know howtransfers
Continual education of the workforce;
Existence of raw materials for high quality products;
Existence of raw materials for organic production;
Foreign investments in infrastructure - port on the Sava River, railway, highways, airport.

THREATS

Frequent changes in the global economy and inflexible industrial sector; Unstable social-political environment; Increasingly strong competition from the Far East;
Threat from economic blockade/sanctions;
Bribery and corruption negatively impacts foreign direct investment in-flows; Low competitiveness due to sluggish privatization, expensive input and obsolete technology; Use of economic resources without a clear sustainable development strategy; Threat from dirty technology transfers.