THE SERVICE SECTOR AS A DRIVER FOR REGIONAL DIVERSIFICATION

This article examines the role and potential of the service sector in diversifying and stimulating economic growth at the regional level, identifying key mechanisms and influencing factors. The service sector is not a passive consequence, but an active driver of regional economic diversification and growth. Its development facilitates structural restructuring, increases resilience to shocks, creates highly productive jobs, and generates innovation. Realizing this potential requires a targeted regional policy focused not on supporting services "in general," but on stimulating their most complex and productive types, integrating services with the real sector, and developing human capital. Amid global instability and the exhaustion of the resource-based development model, the search for new sources of sustainable growth is becoming a key challenge for many regions. Economic diversification aimed at reducing dependence on the commodity sector is a strategic imperative. The service sector, demonstrating high adaptability, innovation, and potential for creating added value, is considered a promising driver of this transformation.