From SDG investment mapping to a bankable project pipeline: Mobilizing private capital for sustainable development in Serbia

The development of Serbia's SDG Investment Pipeline represents a structured effort to identify, evaluate, and promote investment-ready projects that simultaneously generate financial returns and contribute to the country's sustainable development priorities. Building on the UNDP SDG Investor Map, which identified strategic sectors and investment opportunity areas with the highest potential for sustainable investment, the Pipeline translates macro-level opportunities into concrete, assessable project propositions. The analysis applies a multi-phase methodology encompassing project sourcing, screening, scoring, and shortlisting. Starting from an initial universe of 150 potential investment projects derived from 13 Investment Opportunity Areas (IOAs) and additional "white spaces," a composite scoring model was developed to evaluate projects across three perspectives: investor (60%), public contribution (20%), and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (20%). Only projects achieving a minimum threshold of 60% in each perspective were included, resulting in a final portfolio of 44 investment-ready projects. The findings demonstrate that sustainability and profitability are not mutually exclusive. The paper concludes that structured SDG investment pipelines, grounded in investor logic and aligned with national strategic priorities, represent a critical instrument for mobilizing private capital, strengthening evidence-based policymaking, and accelerating long-term, inclusive, and sustainable growth in Serbia.