Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić said today that last year the IT companies in Serbia exported software valued at 250 million euros, which is an increase of 30 percent compared to the year 2012, but that the potential of the industry is much greater and reaches 450 million euros.
He said that Serbia needs to increase investment in science, which currently makes for 0.3 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), and that it should be a pillar for the development of the country.
Deputy Prime Minister Ljajić attended the presentation of the ASEPA program in the company ASSECO. The ASEPA program was declared “most innovative software” at the ICT Fair in Las Vegas. Ljajić said that the EU average investment in science is about two percent of the GDP.
“Along with energy, agriculture, infrastructure, and the automotive industry, the IT sector that employs young professionals should also become a basic sector for the economic development of Serbia,” said Ljajić.
He added that the information technology sector in Serbia cannot be developed without the help of the state, but noted that the reduction of parafiscal taxes is essential and that it is something most companies in this field expect from the state.
According to him, Serbia invests 60 euros per capita in the IT sector; Croatia is investing 200 euros, while the average in the EU is around 800 euros per capita.
At today’s presentation of the ASEPA software developed by Serbian engineers from the ASSECO SEE company, it was said that this software is one of the most comprehensive system solutions for document management in the public sector.
It was pointed out that this software improves work efficiency and significantly lowers the expenses of the public sector and thus contributes to the introduction of the concept of e-state in Serbia.
The Director of the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications (RATEL) Milan Janković said that the agency has already successfully applied this software and that these solutions facilitate communication with public sector institutions and that the workflow is fully automated.
“The analysis of the agency’s work led to the conclusion that over 80 percent of jobs can be classified into the so-called procedural processing of cases, and that this software can be applied in the administration of all local and state bodies,” said Janković.
