The Development Potential Index (IRP) is an annual publication that thoroughly analyzes 114 sectors in the Serbian processing industry and ranks them according to their development potential.
The goal of the annual presentation of the IRP reflects the need to become as familiar as possible with the economy that surrounds us, primarily its real sector. Economic growth is often discussed in the media, focusing on general GDP trends, without understanding who constitutes that growth, who created it, and who has the strength to build that growth in the future. In this regard, the IRP aims to depict the state of the economy as much as possible, respecting all its subjects, and to recognize and highlight those sectors on which future growth should be built.
At the very beginning, it is necessary to emphasize one of the basic principles: Economic growth must be built on those sectors that possess development potential. These are primarily those sectors that are based on competitive companies, i.e., companies that know how to recognize opportunities, create competitive products, create added value, compete and win both in the domestic and foreign markets, and pull the rest of the economy with their growth, etc. One of the main conclusions is that we must focus on the companies themselves, because we can achieve more dynamic economic growth primarily through companies that have the greatest development potential.
In order to truly succeed in identifying leaders, the IRP starts from a bird's-eye view, but soon moves to deeper levels, observing individual companies operating in the Serbian economy. Specifically, it observes bona fide companies, i.e., companies that regularly submit financial reports and whose financial reports are meaningful. In total, there are 80,000 companies, which we have divided into 114 different sectors. Sectors were observed through all companies operating in them, i.e., primarily through the results of these companies in the domestic and 110 foreign markets, in the six-year period after the crisis (ending in 2014).
Among the leaders, i.e., those that have shown particular agility, are branches where we have a domestic resource base – agribusiness and the wood industry, especially those segments of these branches that add higher added value, such as wooden furniture, fruit and vegetable processing, etc. In addition to these, there are also sectors of the machine industry, metal industry, transport industry, rubber and plastic industry, as well as certain sectors of the textile industry. In order to fully utilize the potential of all these sectors, they should not be left to themselves. Furthermore, support cannot be universal. Namely, among the sectors that have stood out, there are both the most basic ones, such as fruits and vegetables, but also technologically more complex ones, such as medical instruments or machines intended for the food industry. These sectors are very heterogeneous, so it is necessary to respect their specific needs and the problems they face. Therefore, tailor-made policies are needed, i.e., policies that will respect the specifics of the sectors and extract the most from them.
