INFRASTRUCTURE AS A COMPETITIVENESS FACTOR IN THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES
INFRASTRUCTURE AS A COMPETITIVENESS FACTOR IN THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES

Summary/Abstract: The concept of a country’s competitiveness has increasingly gained in importance recently, although it is still contested in theory. Well developed and interconnected transport and energy infrastructures are the key drivers of economic growth and employment as well as important factors for attracting new investments and improving competitiveness. By using the GCI (WEF) dataset, the paper considers the global competitiveness of the six countries of the Western Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia) for the period 2006-2014, with particular emphasis on the importance of the second GCI pillar (Infrastructure) for improving competitiveness in these countries. The paper demonstrates a weak trend in infrastructure development of the region and a lack of balance among the countries in terms of the observed indicators. Hence there is a need for comprehensive infrastructure strategies in every individual country observed and also through joint regional approach to this problem.

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