EXTERNAL COMPETITIVENESS OF THE WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES IN CONTEXT OF THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRISIS.

In a globalizing economy, maintaining and enhancing external competitiveness has become of increasing concern to countries around the world. This applies in particular to Western Balkans countries (WBC), whose small economies have to rely mainly on export-led growth and which have reported large current account deficits and widening trade deficits over the past decade. This paper aims to point out of the directions for achieving external competitiveness of WBC. Starting from the assumption that a strong export performance is a sign of a country's competitiveness in the long run, we have considered a broad list of indicators, such as those related to structural trade indicators, price and cost competitiveness, the sold of the current accounts, productivity, foreign direct investment, as well as institutional factors. Secondary analysis of previous quantitative data and published studies, combined with an own qualitative study in the field has provided a reliable and convincing basis for analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]