Matkovski Bojan, Zekić Stanislav, Đokić Danilo, Jurjević Žana, Đurić Ivan
Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Faculty of Economics in Subotica, University of Novi Sad, 24000 Subotica, Serbia.
Department of Agricultural Markets, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO), 06120 Halle (Saale), Germany.
Foods. 2021 Dec 21;11(1):10. doi: 10.3390/foods11010010.
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.
与欧盟（EU）的贸易协定以及中欧自由贸易协定（CEFTA）对西巴尔干（WB）国家农产品和食品的自由化产生了重大影响。在所有西巴尔干国家，农产品和食品贸易不断强化，贸易的区域结构和商品结构也发生了部分变化。本文旨在确定农产品和食品部门的比较优势，并探讨其在欧盟一体化进程中的发展趋势。此外，本文还将讨论改善农产品和食品出口地位的一些机会。在此背景下，基于文献综述，显性比较优势指数及其修正版本将作为本研究的主要分析方法。结果表明，除阿尔巴尼亚外，所有西巴尔干国家在农产品和食品出口方面都具有比较优势。显然，塞尔维亚在该部门的比较优势水平最高。此外，本文建议所有国家应在加入欧盟的预谈判中，为其农产品和食品争取尽可能好的地位，并采取必要措施提高在欧盟共同市场的竞争力水平。
