Export Competitiveness of Agri-Food Sector during the EU Integration Process: Evidence from the Western Balkans

Bojan Matkovski,Danilo Đokić,Ivan Đurić,Stanislav Zekić,Žana Jurjević

doi:10.3390/foods11010010

Abstract

Trade agreements with the European Union (EU) and Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA) significantly influenced the liberalisation of agri-food products in Western Balkan (WB) countries. In all Western Balkan countries, there has been an intensification of the trade of agri-food products and a partial change in the regional and commodity structures of trade. This paper aims to identify comparative advantages of agri-food sectors and consider its tendencies during the EU integration process. Additionally, this paper will discuss some opportunities for improvement of the export positions of agri-food products. In that context and based on the literature review, the indexes of revealed comparative advantages and its modified version will be used as a main method for analysis in this research. Results showed that all Western Balkan countries, except Albania, have comparative advantages in exporting agri-food products. It is evident that Serbia has the highest level of comparative advantages in this sector. Moreover, this paper suggests that all countries should aim to provide the best possible positions for their agri-food products during pre-accession negotiations for EU membership and take the necessary steps towards increasing the level of competitiveness in the common EU market.

Highlights

The current policy of the Western Balkan (WB) countries, characterised by integration with the international market, brings numerous changes in the agri-food sector
The highest growth in exports of agri-food products was observed in Albania, where exports grew at an average annual rate of 10.4%; Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina recorded high growth rates, where exports recorded an average annual growth rate of
In the field of foreign trade, in all WB countries, there has been an intensification of the trade of agri-food products and a partial change in the orientation of the trade

Summary

Introduction

The current policy of the Western Balkan (WB) countries, characterised by integration with the international market, brings numerous changes in the agri-food sector. As the countries of the WB have been in the process of adjusting the economic system to the rules of the European Union (EU) for a long time, there have been numerous changes in the market of agri-food products, which have had implications for their competitiveness [1,2]. In the context of market liberalisation, significant results have been achieved in the foreign trade of agri-food products of the WB in the last decade, but export performances of the WB are significantly worse than in the EU countries [4]. It is necessary to analyse the significance and intensity of foreign trade of agri-food products of these countries.

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Conclusion