Belgrade scores No1 as the city with the biggest economic potential, according to the Business-Friendly Cities Perception Index created by Emerging Europe.

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The city recognized by Emerging Europe’s panel of experts as having the most economic potential was the Serbian capital Belgrade. Behind Belgrade on the ranking board in this category are cities like Kyiv, Debrecen, Bucharest, and Łódź.

The major of Belgrade, Zoran Radojičić, says for Emerging Europe that the city’s success can be put down to financial stability – both of Belgrade and Serbia.

“Financial stability is a sound foundation for major investments in infrastructure, both roads, and railways,” he says.

“What I specifically have in mind here is the construction of the Belgrade bypass, the Belgrade to Novi Sad high-speed railway, and last but certainly not least, the imminent commencement of construction work on the first Belgrade metro line. All these projects will give us faster and more efficient mobility both locally in Belgrade, but also to Europe and other parts of the world.”

In general, on this year’s Business-Friendly Cities Perception Index Belgrade is ranked 9th, which is impressive progress on the ranking board compared to 2020 when the Serbian capital held 24th position.

Besides that, Belgrade is recognized also as a city with good quality of life since it is ranked 4th within the category Quality of life, following the cities such as Budapest, Ljubljana, and Prague which is holding first place.

Similarly, like Pool of talents Serbian capital holds the 5th position which indicates optimal access to a highly skilled labour force, relatively low competition for talent, and business and academia collaboration which can ensure a higher inflow of skilled employees in the future.

Business-Friendly Cities Perception Index is run by Emerging Europe since 2019, and it is created by the survey amongst dozens of international site selection experts, location consultants, and FDI advisers. This year’s Index leader is the Polish city of Łódź, followed by Prague, Ljubljana, Budapest, and Kyiv.