What is Sustainable Economic Development

The challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic are important and relevant for sustainable development. The aim of this chapter is to review the existing model of economic development, because the COVID-19 pandemic has called into question the effects of structural changes in the economy and manufacturing industry in Serbia. The main contribution of this chapter is the review of development results which show that Serbia is in the process of economic recovery, but that it has not yet embarked on the path of sustainable economic development due to numerous structural problems. Serbia has experience with unsustainable economic development, and this is a strong argument in favor of sustainable concept implementation. In addition, this chapter provides empirical research on structural and technological changes. The obtained results can be used by economic and industrial policy makers to influence the consequences of COVID-19 and to avoid the slowdown of structural reforms. There will be numerous economic, environmental, social, and especially health challenges whose solutions must be sustainable.