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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

New era in relations between Serbia, United States

Belgrade, 23 September 2020

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic stated today that a new era has begun in the political and economic relations between Serbia and the United States, and pointed out that Serbia, after opening the office of the American International Development Financial Corporation (DFC) in Belgrade, has access to funds for a number of projects.

Appearing on the morning show of Radio and Television of Serbia, Brnabic said that funds have been set aside for Serbia, but that it is now up to us how soon we would have ready projects and ideas, emphasising that investments in five priority areas were discussed yesterday – infrastructure, small and medium-sized enterprises, the "small Schengen" initiative and the regional economy, economic development in Serbia and agriculture.

When it comes to infrastructure, she said that they are talking about projects worth 4 billion euros, of which the priority is the "highway of peace" from Nis to Pristina, as well as the Nis-Kursumlija railway.

According to her, when it comes to the private sector and small and medium enterprises, we are talking about a guarantee scheme for the small and medium enterprises sector.

DFC would provide a billion-dollar loan there, and we would cover the risk of the first loss, Brnabic said.

The Prime Minister stated that the third area is everything related to the "small Schengen" initiative, support for the regional economy and infrastructure, while the fourth area refers to further conditions for economic development and investment of DFCs in industrial zones.

The fifth area is agriculture, with an emphasis on supporting women's entrepreneurship in agriculture and young farmers, said Brnabic.

Asked what the arrival of DFC brings to the Serbian economy, the Prime Minister answered that DFC Executive Director Adam Boehler said yesterday that Serbia has managed to strengthen its economy and its private sector in the last seven years in such a way that today there is an atmosphere and environment in which DFC can come and invest.

She mentioned that it is a clear signal of how economically stable and stronger Serbia is today, only their presence and the signal it sends to other investors and agencies dealing with our credit rating, which means cheaper money in Serbia for our small and medium enterprises and additional incentives for development.

Regarding the changes in political relations, Brnabic pointed out that a new era in the relations between Serbia and the United States has begun.

This really summarises the agreement in Washington, which was very well negotiated by President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic and the Serbian delegation, and we are already seeing the first concrete benefits for the citizens and the economy, Brnabic emphasised.

Asked whether the political points of the Washington agreement were discussed, Brnabic said that they were mostly economic points, and added that the special envoy of the US President, Richard Grennell, said that he was told by the US President, Donald Trump, that we should have an unconventional approach and think about economic normalisation in Belgrade-Pristina relations, stating that such an approach was also of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.