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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Clear prospects of development of relations of Serbia, Norway

Belgrade, 22 November 2017

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic and Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg agreed today during a meeting in Oslo that political and bilateral relations of Serbia and Norway are very good and friendly and that there is a lot of room for improvement of economic cooperation.

Ana Brnabic, left, and Erna Solberg

During the meeting by which she started her first official visit to the Kingdom of Norway, Brnabic stressed that since 2000 to date, the Kingdom of Norway has supported Serbia with more than €250 million in grants and is one of its biggest donors.

She said that citizens of Serbia appreciate very much the help and support of the Kingdom of Norway in times of crisis in recent years, and above all during the floods of 2014, as well as during the migrant crisis.

Brnabic confirmed that membership in the European Union is the crucial foreign policy goal of Serbia.

In the previous period, Norway financially supported projects in the fields of public procurement, competitiveness, rule of law, judiciary and financial control, which contributed to the reforms and acceleration of the European integration process of Serbia.

Speaking about the foreign policy priorities, Brnabic said that Serbia is committed to improving and developing political and economic cooperation in the region.

For the region of the Western Balkans, the Scandinavian countries are an excellent example of exceptional regional cooperation in all areas, she stressed.

Prime Ministers Brnabic and Solberg discussed the possibilities for improving the economic cooperation of the two countries.

Telenor, which has invested €2 billion, is the largest single investor in Serbia.

The Serbian government has also established good cooperation with the Nordic Business Alliance, which brings together Scandinavian companies operating in Serbia, especially in the IT sector and innovative business.

Our goal is to organize a visit of Norwegian investors to Serbia in order to present the potential for investments in our country, which would further strengthen economic cooperation, Brnabic pointed out.

Bearing in mind that education and digitisation, as well as the economy based on innovation and knowledge, are priorities of the government of Serbia, the Serbian Prime Minister said that the Norwegian experiences and examples of good practice are important for our country.

Norwegian bilateral assistance in the fields of digitisation, incentive for innovation activities and start-up communities, as well as in the fields of education and creative industries, would be particularly significant for Serbia, the Prime Minister pointed out.

She stressed that the visit of a delegation of the government of Serbia to the organization "Innovation Norway", which deals with incentives for innovation and entrepreneurship, is extremely important.

Brnabic said that Serbia is also determined to continue excellent bilateral co-operation in the field of education and science. Norway's assistance in further higher education reform, support to start-up IT projects and programmes in the field of IT, and the opportunities for joint participation in research projects and innovations “Horizon 2020” are important for the Serbian government as well as for the scientific community.

The prime ministers of Serbia and Norway also pointed to the highly developed cooperation in the field of defence, especially in the fields of military medicine and military education.

Also, the topic of the discussion was the exchange of experience and good practice in the fields of energy and mining.

Brnabic invited once again the Prime Minister of Norway to visit Serbia. Earlier, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, during a session of the UN General Assembly in September, invited the Prime Minister of Norway to visit Serbia, which she accepted.

During her two-day visit to Oslo, Brnabic will also meet with Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Norway Ine Eriksen Soreide and representatives of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee of the Norwegian Parliament, as well as with Director of the Norwegian Employers' Confederation Kristin Skogen Lund and President of Telenor Group Sigve Brekke.