Business news

BELGRADE, 22 June (BelTA) - Belarus has invited Serbia to participate in Prodexpo 2017 which will be held in the autumn, Belarusian Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Vladimir Koltovich said as he met with Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic in Belgrade on 22 June, BelTA has learned.

“We hold the Prodexpo food expo in the autumn every year. We invite the Serbian producers to present their products and meet with representatives of retail networks. I would like to arrange a similar event showcasing Belarusian companies in Serbia,” Vladimir Koltovich said.

He recalled that the heads of state set the task to increase the bilateral trade up to €500 million. “In furtherance of this instruction we and Serbian colleagues drew up a two-year roadmap where we outlined the concrete action in economy, industry, information technologies, culture, etc. Our task as public authorities is to organize the process, remove administrative barriers and determine the overall strategy of our relations. So far we have been happy with how the things have been going,” Vladimir Koltovich said.

For his part, Rasim Ljajic stressed that it is important to hold specific events to intensify Belarus-Serbia trade and economic interaction. As an example, he cited the business forum held in April as part of the session of the Belarusian-Serbian interparliamentary commission on trade and economic cooperation. “We need to continue organizing such forums in order to promote business. Another crucial task is to showcase at Belarusian and Serbian fairs,” he remarked.

Rasim Ljajic emphasized that Serbia is about to start negotiations on a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union. “We count on Belarus’ support in this matter,” he added.