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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

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Payment through Alipay in a few months in Serbia

Belgrade/Hangzhou, 6 November 2019

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today in Hangzhou, following a visit to Alibaba, that she hopes that payments through Alipay will be enabled for Serbia in the next few months.

Brnabic explained that it is an online payment platform with almost one billion users and created by the Alibaba Group.

I hope that in the next few months we will create the conditions for such payment system, she said, adding that this is important for an increasing number of Chinese tourists visiting Serbia.

Talks on the introduction of Alipay, led by the Serbian Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications and involving a commercial bank, are well underway and I expect it will end quickly, she added.

According to Brbabic, the next step would be a logistics centre, and the intention is to continue discussions with Alibaba and other companies about opening their development centres in Serbia.

Brnabic recalled that, as of January this year, Serbia is the most competitive country in Europe to invest in research and development, innovation and intellectual property creation, thanks to changes in the legal framework and tax environment.

Everyone who has invested in Serbia so far has decided to develop further. The profit tax paid on intellectual property developed in Serbia is only 3%, which is why I think we are the best possible partner for such companies, said the Prime Minister.

She expressed satisfaction with the visit to companies in China's Zhejiang Province, whose economic development is based precisely on the digital economy.

The Prime Minister stressed that it is one of China's richest regions, that as much as 41.5% of GDP in this region comes from the digital economy, and that it is one of six innovation, research and development pilot zones in China.

Brnabic also noted that the companies she visited today were founded only two decades ago, and now employ up to 100,000 people, which shows that changes occur when there is state support, an open economic system and a good environment for innovation.

This all shows how much Serbia has potential and how fast it can progress, especially if we can establish such partnerships, the Prime Minister concluded.