GENERAL NEWS
PWO Group receives € 15m machinery loan
The European Investment Bank( EIB) is lending € 15 million to German automotive supplier and lightweight metal solutions specialist, PWO Group. The EIB loan covers machinery for a new manufacturing facility that PWO Group opened last year in Čačak in central Serbia. The European Investment Bank( EIB) Group is the financing arm of the European Union.
The new plant, which is 16,500 square metres, makes advanced lightweight components for the automotive industry including components for electrified vehicles. The Čačak site is also equipped with a Shared Service Centre supporting PWO Group’ s European operations and has the potential to expand production.
The plant has a total investment value of € 31 million. In addition to the EIB loan, the project financing includes € 12 million from PWO Group itself and € 4 million from the Serbian government. The investment is projected to create 550 jobs by 2033.
“ The EIB is helping foster technology transfer, new jobs and sustainable economic growth in Serbia, while enhancing the competitiveness and resilience of Europe’ s automotive industry,” said Director for
Enlargement and Neighbourhood, Richard Amor.“ The project will also contribute to vehicle safety, efficiency and electrification through the production of advanced lightweight components and systems.”
By deploying advanced manufacturing technologies for cold-formed metal components, the project will deepen Serbia’ s integration into European industrial value chains and bolster the competitiveness of the automotive sector across Europe. It will also facilitate technology transfer and new opportunities for local suppliers and service providers.
“ The Čačak facility increases our local production capacity in Eastern Europe, one of the most important growth regions for the automotive industry. Our key customers – Tier
Vehicle body structure part.
Left: PWO Group Chief Executive Officer, Carlo Lazzarini.
Image: @ PWO Group.
1 suppliers and Original Equipment Manufacturers( OEMs) – have established major operations in Serbia and neighbouring countries and we need to be there to serve them,” said PWO Group Chief Executive Officer, Carlo Lazzarini.“ We are creating new jobs and building new capabilities in Europe, and the EIB’ s support allows us to build this capacity faster and more efficiently. Serbia is becoming a significant pillar of our European operations.”
The project supports European Union foreign direct investment flows to Serbia, reinforcing economic ties, market integration and industrial cooperation.
“ Investment in advanced manufacturing, innovation and quality jobs is key to Serbia’ s sustainable economic growth and its closer integration with the European Union,” said Deputy Head of the European Union Delegation to Serbia, Julian Vassallo.“..... This investment is a clear example of the concrete, shared benefits of the EU’ s partnership with Serbia.” n
www
. eib. org
AI offers lifeline to developing economies
Artificial intelligence( AI) could allow developing countries to do in a decade what might otherwise take a century— provided governments act swiftly to close the gaps in power, connectivity, skills and institutional quality that threaten to leave them behind. This is according to the World Bank Group’ s‘ World Development Report 2026: The Promise of Artificial Intelligence.’
The report, released in August, finds that jobs in high-income countries are more than three times as likely to be at risk of automation by generative AI than those in low- and middle-income countries( where 4.5 % of existing jobs are at risk, compared to 14.2 % in high-income countries). At the same time, 16.2 % of jobs in developing economies could see productivity meaningfully boosted by AI— close to the 18.7 % expected in high-income countries. The greatest promise for developing countries lies not in replacing workers, but in amplifying what they can do.
“ AI has thrown developing economies a lifeline, and they should seize it,” said Indermit Gill, Senior Vice President and Chief
Image: Shutterstock. com.
Economist of the World Bank Group.“ They do not need large models or big data centres to reap its benefits. By adapting small, lowcost AI tools to local conditions, they can bring better medical care, education, judicial services and agricultural extension within reach of millions. But they must hurry: AI is spreading faster and is more context-specific than earlier general-purpose technologies like electricity and the internet.”
The report finds that AI is already helping people, businesses and governments solve problems, analyse information, improve forecasts and deliver services at a larger scale. Developing economies today are in the midst of their weakest average growth performance in three decades. AI could significantly boost that performance before the end of the 2020s while delivering tangible benefits to people, the report finds.
The opportunity is not guaranteed, however. The most advanced AI systems are being built by a small number of countries and companies, while many developing economies still lack the power, internet access, data, skills and institutions needed to use AI effectively.
The report sets out a clear, three-step path: adopt available tools, adapt them to local conditions, and— over time— advance towards frontier AI development.
“ The window to get this right is narrow,” said Gaurav Nayyar, Director of the‘ World Development Report 2026’.“ AI presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to solve problems that have resisted solutions for generations. Developing countries that build the foundations now— power, connectivity, skills and institutions— will be positioned to adopt and adapt AI for their people.” n
www. worldbank. org
14 | ismr. net | ISMR October 2026