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Free Trade Zones in Serbia

What’s a free trade zone? In this article, we will mention free trade zones in Serbia, the benefits of having a business, and its procedures.

What Is Free Trade Zone?

Free-trade zones (FTZ) are typically considered to be an economic policy instrument intended to promote economic growth and a country’s development through increased foreign direct investments, increased exports, and subsequently improved national balance of payments and increased employment.

The Largest Free Trade Zones In The World

• For the fourth year in a row, the United Arab Emirates tops the positioning for having the world’s best free trade zone. One of the foremost appealing goals within the Center East for outside speculation, the United Middle Eastern Emirates can brag of significant advancements over the past year, particularly within the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC).
• As a door to Africa and one of the only attractive countries for venture within the locale, Mauritius to has one of the world’s best free exchange zones.
• Established in 1989 within the Chonburi Province, in Thailand, Amata City is the foremost appealing free trade zone in the Asia Pacific. Extending over 4,121 hectares of arriving, Amata City has more than 700 companies primarily from Japan and the rest of Asia.
• Giving an extent of motivating forces to speculators, Pirot in Serbia, is the foremost appealing free trade zone in Europe.

Free Zones In Serbia

Today, the Republic of Serbia has 15 free zones that are evenly distributed from the north to the south and from the east to the west thanks to institutional support. These free zones are FZ Subotica, FZ Pirot, FZ Zrenjanin, FZ Novi Sad, FAS FZ Kragujevac, FZ Šabac, FZ Užice, FZ Svilajnac, FZ Smederevo, FZ Kruševac, FZ Apatin, FZ Vranje, FZ Priboj, FZ Beograd and FZ Šumadija.

The Customs Law, the Law on Free Zones, and other by-law regulations all govern the territory of free zones in the Republic of Serbia. At the end of 2008, the Free Zones Administration was founded as a body under the Ministry of Finance to promote the growth of the free zone idea. The Free Zones Administration works with other national and international organizations to promote, develop, control, and supervise free zones.

Advantages Of The Free Trade Zones In Serbia

The fact that international companies can conduct business in Serbia’s free zones in addition to local ones, and that profits made there can be transferred to any country without obtaining prior authorization or paying taxes, tariffs, or customs is a significant benefit of these zones.

Business in these zones has a number of advantages and substantially lower costs.

The primary advantage is the simplified tax system, which offers VAT and customs exemption for the import of raw materials, other materials, machinery, equipment, and building materials used in the manufacture of export items, while the import and export of goods within a zone are limitless. These VAT capabilities also cover the exchange of products and services between Serbia’s two free zones and within one zone, which further lowers costs.

Fiscal Benefits Of Operating In Free Zones:

• VAT exemption on products imported into Free Trade Zones, as well as on transportation and other services associated with such imports;
• VAT-free commerce in goods and services within the FZ;
• For exchanges of items between two FZ users who are VAT-exempt;
• A VAT exemption for production-related fuel.

Application Procedure

If you want to submit an application to the Agency for funding a new investment project, you’ll need to include information about the project’s activity, planned investments, and the number of jobs that will be created as a result. The agency provides the investor with a notice about the possible level of incentive. This notice is not legally binding. The investor should notify the Agency about his decision within the next 30 days. If the Agency thinks it is important for the public good to undertake an investment project, it will notify the Ministry of Economy and the Council.

The investor who wants to realize the investment should submit an application for incentives to the Agency in the prescribed form in the Serbian language to determine if the conditions have been met. The Agency reviews the investment project and provides information on the incentives it will recommend to the Council. The Agency will submit a draft contract to the investor. The expert analysis of the investment project provides an estimation of how much money could be generated.