THE COST OF NON-EUROPE. Textile towns and the future of Serbia
THE COST OF NON-EUROPE. Textile towns and the future of Serbia

Author(s): Author Not Specified
Subject(s): National Economy, Micro-Economics, Economic policy
Published by: ESI – European Stability Initiative
Keywords: Textile industry; globalisation; Leskovac;
Summary/Abstract: This is a story about the economic decline and social crisis of a formerly proud textile town in a country well-placed on the edge of the largest market for clothes and textiles in the world (the EU), but unable to take advantage of it. It is also a story about the costs of non-Europe in the Balkans. The town is Leskovac; the country is Serbia; and the key policy question is how it was possible that all of Serbia’s neighbors were winners in the global restructuring of the textile and clothing industry (TCI), while Serbia was a looser. || The facts are clear and so are the consequences. In 2004 Serbia employed 56,781 people in the textile and clothing sector. In Bulgaria that number was 168,000. Since then the number has continued to fall in Serbia and has continued to rise in Bulgaria. In 1990 Serbia exported three times more textiles and clothing than small Macedonia. By 2004 Macedonia exported more than double the amount of Serbia.

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