Serbia

The global financial crisis of 2008 and the Greek economic crisis since the autumn of 2009 have impacted the Serbian economy heavily through effects such as a drop in trade, and its economic growth rate in 2009 was a negative 3.5 percent. For Serbia to develop as a stable democratic nation is critical to stability in the whole Southeast Europe and it is with such a perspective that the international community is providing support to Serbia. Since 2010, the economy has shown signs of a slow recovery, and graduated from the level that is eligible for the general grant aid in the fiscal year 2010, but JICA continues to provide support to Serbia through technical cooperation, and beginning in 2011, through Japanese ODA loans, with a primary focus on: 1) Market-oriented economic reform, 2) Health/Education, and 3) Environmental Protection.