Serbia welcomes Azerbaijani investors
By Aynur Jafarova
Serbia warmly welcomes investors from Azerbaijan and is ready to create the most favorable conditions for them.
These remarks were made by Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic on the eve of his visit to Azerbaijan.
Dacic told Trend Agency that his country is open to new proposals and investments in other areas on mutually beneficial terms.
"The relations between Serbia and Azerbaijan are being developed on a solid basis without unresolved issues and with high dynamics. In this context, Serbia is interested in the comprehensive relations with a special emphasis on strengthening the economic and cultural cooperation," he added.
"Serbia is a country with a great capacity in the economic and financial fields. We are very interested in Azerbaijan's investments, in particular in the field of energy and infrastructure. There are joint projects in these areas that can serve as an example of successful cooperation," he said.
As for the possible simplification of the visa regime with Azerbaijan, Dacic said Serbia delivered draft documents on the abolition of visas in September 2010. According to this package, it is expected to abolish visas for up to 30 days. In this regard, the need and importance of further liberalization of the visa regime were stressed given the expanding economic and tourism relations between the two countries.
"We are expecting a response from our Azerbaijani friends," Dacic added.
He added Serbia shows great interest in the unused huge opportunity in the field of construction, information and communication technologies, medicines and medical equipment, food sector, tourism and others.
He also stressed there are many more opportunities for cooperation between Serbia and Azerbaijan than that done so far.
"The main type of economic cooperation is trade. But the indices of our trade turnover are modest. Serbia is also interested in other forms of economic cooperation, as I have already stressed, in investments in production potential," he said.
The minister also noted Serbia welcomes any project aimed at a stable power supply to consumers in Europe.
"Currently, Serbia focuses on the implementation of South Stream gas project," he said. "The Azerbaijani side informed us about other projects concerning this area, in which the Republic is involved, such as, for example, TANAP. This project is an interesting proposal. We hope that joint efforts of Azerbaijan and its partners will be successful for all participants of these projects."
The Azerbaijani-Serbian relations, which are based on the principles of mutual respect and confidence, are rapidly developing. The two countries have significant opportunities to develop cooperation in the construction of infrastructure facilities, tourism, and education.
The two countries signed several documents in the legal sphere. Draft agreements on the protection and quarantine of plants, international cargo traffic, health care, and medicine are still to be ratified.