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Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Turkey has been using the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA) to gain soft power and increase its influence in the Balkans, Caucasia, and Central Asia. As Turkey's focus is on countries that were once part of the Ottoman Empire, many have characterized this attempt as Neo-Ottomanism. Especially problematic is the fact that, over the years, TİKA has funded the restoration of numerous Ottoman monuments in these regions. Using Serbia as an example, this article explores whether such projects are proof of Turkey having a 'Neo-Ottoman agenda' of reviving Ottoman culture and exerting influence over former Ottoman territories, or just a way of Turkey gaining soft power through foreign aid.

Abstract
China's investment activities and infrastructure development in Africa under the Belt and Road Initiative ("BRI") have changed the prospects of economic cooperation between African countries and Asia's largest economy. Africa plays a prominent role in one of the key BRI corridors, which explains China's active engagement on the continent through the construction of hard infrastructure, port development and trade and investment activities. China is Africa's largest bilateral trading partner and foreign direct investor. This paper analyses China's investments and trade flows with Africa, the importance of African countries for the BRI and China-Africa relations within the geopolitical triangle US-EU-Russia. We applied correlation analysis to assess the intensity of the relationship between FDI and trade and an autoregressive model to extrapolate import and export data for a given period with the aim of forecasting trends in the development of China - Africa economic relations. Empirical results indicate a strong correlation between China's FDI to African countries and their trade flows. The autoregressive model estimates a substantial increase in their trade flows, which, along with China's infrastructural development in Africa, suggests a change in the dynamics of their trade cooperation and in the geographical structure of African countries' foreign trade.

This paper analyses the intensity of the influence of foreign direct investments, exports of goods and services, and research and development expenditure on GDP growth of developed and developing countries. Panel regression analysis determined that the exports of goods and services make the largest contribution to growth on middle levels of income. In fact, the contribution the export of goods and services makes to growth on middle levels of income is two times larger than in countries with a high GDP. The most essential impact on countries with a high GDP level was made by research and development expenditure, which is 3.5 times larger than its impact on the developing Balkan countries. The phenomenon of the Middle-Income Trap can be explained by insufficient research and development expenditure. Foreign direct investments are not statistically significant for the GDP growth of observed countries, but they achieve far better results on low development levels. The empirical data, presented in figures, confirms the conclusions of the econometric analysis.

When China introduced the strategy for the new Silk Road in 2013, it had once again affirmed its position as a global leader and defined future direction in its foreign policy and economic development. As one of the most ambitious projects ever, once fully implemented, the new Silk Road will connect markets in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Europe, strengthen cooperation between countries and boost international trade flows.This paper analyzes the importance of the new Silk Road for economies along its corridors, аs well as the impact on Serbia's economic development. It examines China's investment model in Serbia, sectors with the largest volume of investment and the potential risks that developing countries could face through the implementation of BRI projects. The review also evaluates the attractiveness of the Serbian market and its role in the BRI vision in the Western Balkans. Preliminary research indicates that investments from China in recent years have had a positive impact on Serbia's economic development. It is anticipated that further enhancement of investment relations between Serbia and China may have a wider impact not only on the realization of BRI goals in Serbia, but also in Europe, considering Serbia's geographical position and the potential to bring Chinese companies closer to the EU market.

Abstract
The spectacular economic development of South Korea in recent decades has continuously intrigued economists, academic community and general public. Whether such a development model be applied to other, less developed countries is one of the topics often explored in a number of studies and debates. Therefore, the principles of South Korean development model and the economic parameters of its foreign trade today, are some of the research aims of this paper. The research focuses on economic relations between South Korea and Serbia, current trends and prospects for future economic cooperation through the analysis of comparative advantage of the most prominent export products and industries, using the RCA index. The analysis shows that Serbia has a potential to further improve cooperation with South Korea in several export sectors, and coupled with investments in human resources and infrastructure, as well as the active promotion of Serbian market to South Korean companies, it may be one of the vectors of their future cooperation.

Abstract
The balance of payments deficit is the problem faced by numerous countries. To solve the problem of the balance of payment deficit, the creators of economic policy try to stimulate the sectors that secure the largest inflow of foreign currencies and have a beneficial impact on the reduction of deficit. The international trade in informational, computer and telecommunication services records enormously high growth rates in the 21st century. The specificity of ICT sector opens a perspective even to less developed economies to take part more significantly in the exports, which hold a large percentage of a value-added. The goal of this paper is to determine the significance of ICT services for the balance of trade and the current account adjustment, as well as the contribution to generating the surplus of the total balance of services. In the case of the Republic of Serbia, the surplus of ICT sector covers almost one-fifth of the balance of trade deficit, almost one-third of the current account deficit, while every fourth dollar achieved by the services' exports is achieved by the exports of ICT services. If the same trend of ICT sector's growth continues, the predictions say that the surplus of this sector will be enlarged by almost 60% till the year of 2024, when compared to the level in 2020. Finally, potentially the most significant advantage, which ICT sector brings with itself, is the reduced brain drain, which is the most destructive consequence brought to the less developed countries by the liberalization of workforce's movement.

Abstract
The paper analyses one of the most important economic issues relevant to most countries. The issue involves how to as painless as possible overcome the problems of high budget deficits and excessive accumulated public debt. Argentina and Serbia are used as an example. Argentina implemented rigorous saving measures in 2002 and Serbia began to implement restrictive budgetary measures in 2014. The effects of such a policy can be designed for the future. Results indicate that the key to Argentina's success lies in the transition to a floating exchange rate and the high level of correlation between the growth of the foreign exchange rate and growth in exports. When comparing strict fiscal policy in Argentina and Serbia, it should be emphasised that the measures in Serbia are far less stringent than those that were established in Argentina. But it also means that the effect of reducing budget expenditures should have less of an impact on GDP reduction than in the case of Argentina.