Serbia prepares for industrial park

02/05/2008

Construction of the biggest IT industrial park in the Balkans is expected to finish by mid-2009. The park could grow to 25,000 employees.

By Davor Konjikusic for Southeast European Times from Belgrade - 02/05/08

"Belgrade satisfies the needs of our clients, because of its future prospects and the good attitude the people have here," said Embassy Group Chairman Jitu Virwani. [AFP]

Construction of the biggest IT industrial park in the Balkans will begin in the next five months, after Embassy Group of India receives all the required building permits for Indjija, a small town near Belgrade.

The Embassy Group is one of India’s most reputable property developers, specialising in quality properties and exclusive designs. It concentrates on building from the ground up on sites without any previous activity. This deal aims to capitalise on the growing tendency of global IT companies to "near-source" technology services closer to western clients rather than outsourcing them to increasingly costly India.

"A lot of people are asking us why this Indian company came to Belgrade. … We visited a lot of countries in Eastern Europe and sought a partner who can serve the Eastern European market. We concluded that Belgrade satisfies the needs of our clients, because of its future prospects and the good attitude the people have here," said Embassy Group Chairman Jitu Virwani.

Virwani said the project is already attracting interest from some of his biggest clients, such as IBM and Hewlett-Packard. Among developers, according to Virvani, Embassy Group is one of the leaders in the number of tenants renting space at its IT parks around the world.

"Many of our tenants will come to the IT park, and we are in a hurry. … We will do as much as we can to make Belgrade an attractive IT destination," says Virvani.

In the first phase, the IT park will have 25,000 sq m of space and will employ around 2,500 workers. "It is a very important project for us, because Serbian students who finish electro-technological majors and technical sciences leave the country … to work in big international software companies. It is our duty to persuade [them] … to stay and work in Serbia," said Mladjan Dinkic, minister of economy and regional development.

The government will soon issue necessary approvals, and to build the park, the Indian company will need about nine months.

The town of Indjija and its young mayor, Goran Jesic, are preparing for the IT park. The town is offering scholarships that will prepare students to work there. Also, there are some thoughts about building a university technical campus nearby.

"At the moment we have a couple of world-famous investment funds that are interested in building residential areas and water systems," says Jesic.

If this park succeeds commercially, in next five years it could grow to 250,000 sq m and more than 25,000 employees. Its annual exports could exceed 1.28 billion euros.