Roadmap for implementing the Green Agenda of MSMEs in the Republic of Serbia

Project duration: July 2024 – July 2025

Call/Program/Scheme: Green Economy

Client / Financier: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Participating institutions:

Institute of Economic Sciences
Eneca, d.o.o, Niš

Principal investigator (PI): dr Isidora Ljumović, Institute of Economic Sciences

The role of IEN in the project: IEN is a lead institution

IEN project team (manager/coordinator, team members):

dr Isidora Ljumović (Principal Investigator)
dr Aida Hanić
dr Slavica Stevanović
dr Sonja Đuričin
dr Milena Kojić

Description:

Serbia's economic transformation toward EU integration and climate commitments requires systematic adaptation of the MSME sector, which forms the economy's backbone yet faces significant barriers in adopting green practices, creating a gap between policy ambitions and enterprise-level implementation capacity.

The project supports Serbia's transformation into an ecologically sustainable system by developing a green transition roadmap for micro, small and medium enterprises in manufacturing and tourism sectors. It addresses MSMEs' lack of resources and technical expertise to navigate green standards, circular economy principles, and decarbonization requirements independently.

The methodology combines multi-level regulatory analysis (national and international frameworks), direct assessment of company readiness through consultations with 110+ SMEs via focus groups and surveys of 350+ enterprises, and systematic identification of transition barriers. This evidence-based approach ensures recommendations reflect actual enterprise constraints rather than abstract policy goals.

The project delivered a comprehensive roadmap with actionable recommendations for aligning MSMEs with the Green Agenda, policy briefs presented to the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Tourism and Youth, and training modules adopted by regional development agencies as standard programming.

Keywords: green economy, MSMEs, green transformation, competitiveness, sustainable development

Results: PDF