REGIONAL COOPERATION AND ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

countries must adopt to are also aware of this problem. In this case, we agree that small
countries are like small boats, even in the best of circumstances they can turn over when
caught by a large wave.
In order to reach the desired level of economic development and to join both European and
world economic trends, West Balkan countries are currently working on the transformation
of their economic and political systems, as well as their infrastructural and legal frameworks.
They are making huge efforts in order to increase their competitiveness, attract foreign
investors and secure the inflow of the fresh capital. In this paper we emphasised that foreign
direct investments also bring significant benefits to the transitional countries - they bring
about rapid economic growth, growth of the employment rate, chance to import products
and services of the better quality at the better price, introduction of new technologies and
methods, improvement of the organizational and managerial skills of the workers etc.
However, threats to the national sovereignty, overexploitation of the natural resources and
work force, technological and global dependence of the host country upon the foreign
investor are only few of the numerous negative effects that can be hardly avoided. Taking
both sides of into consideration, we must conclude that the foreign direct investments
represent significant and useful form of the foreign capital inflow into the West Balkan
countries, but only if these countries follow the adequate legal regulative, properly use the
capital and if their spending is constantly checked. By respecting the described conditions
we can expect more rapid development of the mentioned countries, as well as their gradual
but certain meeting of the status of the developed European countries.
REFERENCES
FDI FLOWS IN SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE
Claessens S., Oks D., Polastri R., (1998), Capital flows to Central and Eastern Europe
and former Soviet Union, World Bank, Washington D. C.
Dunning J.H., (1994.), Reevaluating the benefits of foreign direct investment, Transnational
Corporations Vol.3 No.1
Đurić D., Vidas-Bubanja M., Prekajac Z., (2000.), Međunarodna ekonomija, Institut
ekonomskih nauka, Beograd
Hunya G., Geishecker I., (2005), Employment effects of foreign direct investment in Central
and Eastern Europe, WIIW Research report / 321
Kovačević R., (2008), Inostrani kapital kao faktor razvoja zemalja u tranzicji –
zbornik radova, Ekonomski fakultet u Kragujevacu, Kragujevac
Reiljan J., Reiljan E., Andersson K., (2001.), Atractiveness of Central and Eastern European
countries for foreign direct investment in the context of European integration, the case od
Estonia, 41 st Erse Congress, Zagreb
Savić Lj., (2007.), Ekonomika industrije, Centar za izdavačku delatnost ekonomskog
fakulteta u Beogradu, Beograd
311