Serbia ranks third for attracting Swedish capital
A Confederation of Swedish Enterprise study placed Serbia third among EU candidate countries for Swedish firms, behind Turkey and Ukraine, unveiled at a Belgrade forum.
- Serbia is the third most attractive candidate country for Swedish companies, behind Turkey and Ukraine.
- The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise presented the findings at a Belgrade forum on June 2.
- The Ministry of Trade announced talks on renewing the Serbia-Sweden investment agreement.
- Sweden's ambassador stressed the role of aligning with EU standards in public procurement and trade.
The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise has ranked Serbia third for attracting Swedish companies among countries seeking European Union membership, behind only Turkey and Ukraine. The finding was presented at the investment forum “Serbia as a Destination for Swedish Capital,” held in Belgrade on June 2, 2026.
The study was laid out by Asis Ahuja, head of EU policy at the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, the country’s largest business association. The event drew executives, institutional representatives and legal experts from both countries, with a focus on the sector-level opportunities for drawing Swedish capital as Serbia continues its path toward the EU.
Why Swedish capital is looking toward Serbia
Placing third, behind two far larger economies in Turkey and Ukraine, puts Serbia in the narrow band of destinations Swedish firms see as realistic for expansion. The forum was opened by Charlotte Samelin, Sweden’s ambassador to Serbia, who underlined the importance of transparency, legal certainty and the rule of law when deciding on foreign direct investment in the Western Balkans.
The ambassador framed the alignment of domestic rules with EU practice as a precondition for a level playing field:
The continuous process of aligning with EU standards in areas such as public procurement and trade plays a key role in establishing fair competition.
For Swedish companies, which operate under high compliance standards at home, predictable regulation often weighs as heavily as labour costs. That is where Serbia’s candidate status can read as an advantage, since pre-accession reforms move local rules closer to the ones Swedish investors already know.
What comes next for the bilateral agreement
The Ministry of Trade said talks would begin on renewing the investment agreement between Serbia and Sweden. The announcement came from Jasmina Roskic of the Ministry of Trade, opening the door to an updated legal framework governing investment protection and operating conditions.
Renewing such an agreement typically brings a few concrete elements:
- clearer guarantees protecting foreign investment from uneven treatment
- more predictable terms for profit repatriation and dispute resolution
- a framework that tracks the changed trade flows between the two economies
The forum and the announced talks come as Serbia tries to turn study rankings into actual projects rather than declarative goodwill from foreign business. Will third place on the attractiveness list translate into new plants and jobs, or stay at the level of commercial interest?
