Last week, the annual conference of the Automotive Cluster of Serbia (ACS) was held at Srebrno Jezero. At the invitation of the organizers, representatives of the Chamber of Economy of the Federation of BiH and the Automotive Industry Group participated in the conference and on that occasion informed those present about the state, opportunities and challenges in the automotive industry of BiH.
Vladimir Tomić, representative of the Development Agency of Serbia (RAS), presented the latest data on companies engaged in production in the automotive sector in Serbia and pointed out the increase in revenue between 2020 and 2021, where a significant jump of almost one billion euros was recorded, which speaks enough about the development of this sector.
He also emphasized that no matter how much foreign investors are supported, it is very important that domestic companies and local enterprises in Serbia achieve excellent results in turnover and employment and become competitive, and be able to offer greater knowledge and products of higher value.
The data for the automotive industry of BiH was presented by Armin Hodžić, Director of the Energy Sector of the Chamber of Economy of the Federation of BiH and Head of the Automotive Industry Group of BiH. On that occasion, a post-pandemic increase in all major production and revenue parameters was noticeable, as well as
employment, as evidenced by the data: “In 2020, exports amounted to around 500 million euros, and this sector employed 12,000 people. Last year, exports amounted to around 800 million euros, and the number of employees increased to around 14,500. Given that the automotive sector does not exist in the classification of activities as a separate one but is calculated according to tariff numbers and company activities, exports are certainly even 20% higher, and the number of employees up to 25% higher than the stated figures.”
The automotive industry of Bosnia and Herzegovina now has a total of 100 small and large companies, but these data are by no means final. BiH has a tradition of industrial production since the 1950s, and as an advantage of employees in the automotive sector, one can cite the tradition of industrial production, skills and knowledge passed down from generation to generation, and production energy sources in domestic ownership.
The Automotive Industry Group of BiH and the Chamber of Economy of the Federation of BiH have an important role as intermediaries and representatives at important European and world events: in 2018, 2019 and 2022, BiH companies jointly presented themselves at important fairs, and the participation of BiH companies at https://www.globalautomotivecomponentsandsuppliersexpo.com/en/ which is being held this year
in Stuttgart from 5 to 7 December and for which there is great interest from companies from BiH.
“What particularly pleases us is that BiH companies are following global trends in the example of electromobility, and it is especially important to us that companies have recognized business opportunities and started moving towards both assembling and developing their own electric delivery vehicles, as well as making components and parts for electric vehicles. We are also extremely pleased that even new business models based on the CarSharing model of electric vehicles are being established in our country,” Hodžić said.
As a conclusion of the conference, it can be stated that the growth of the automotive industry in the countries of the region actually lies in products of added value, stronger competitiveness, adoption of applicable standards and obtaining the necessary certificates, as well as the inclusion of a larger number of domestic larger and smaller companies in the supply chains of large global companies.
