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In a globalized economy, maintaining and improving competitiveness has become an increasing concern to countries around the world. This applies especially to Western Balkan candidate countries (Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) whose potential to enhance competitiveness is significant in terms of EU accession, improved convergence and sustainable growth. The open-endedness of determinants driving competitiveness is well captured within the Global Competitiveness Index by including many different components grouped into 12 pillars. Given the underlying ambition to join the EU, this paper aims to provide comprehensive comparisons to find the gaps and similarities in the developments of different pillars between Western Balkans and those taking place in the EU. Undoubtedly, the candidates would not be able to exploit the benefits of integration unless they have products and companies to withstand the market competition. As such, this analysis mostly addresses and estimates the agility with which Western Balkans adopt existing technologies to improve the productivity of their industries, with specific emphasis on their ability to fully leverage ICTs in daily activities and production processes for enhanced efficiency and supporting innovation for competitiveness. The assessments are performed by the set of supplemental data analysis tools to estimate both the competitiveness profile of each of the Western Balkan countries and the region’s relative position vis-a-vis the EU member states. Overall, the Western Balkans trail behind the EU-28 countries in building a knowledge-intensive economy and are significantly outdistanced in laying the foundations for ‘smart growth’, as the European economies press ahead.

ICTS AND INNOVATION FOR COMPETITIVENESS: EVIDENCE FOR WESTERN BALKANS VIS-À-VIS THE EUROPEAN UNION