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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Russia strong support for Serbia’s 2030 development agenda

Moscow/Belgrade, 10 December 2021

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said today at the "Made in Russia" International Export Forum in Moscow that the partnership with Russia is a strong support in shaping the development agenda of Serbia.

Speaking at the plenary session "2030 is already on the doorstep. What needs to be done?”, at which Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin also gave a speech, Brnabic pointed out that the Serbian government has identified three key development priorities until 2030, of which the most important is the development and use of artificial intelligence.

The second priority is capacity building in the field of biomedicine, biotechnology, bioinformatics and biodiversity and the third is energy security and stability, while at the same time providing conditions for long-term sustainable growth and environmental protection, i.e. the Green Agenda.

According to her, in 2016, the Serbian government made a strategic decision to embark on a comprehensive digitalisation which includes public administration, the economy and society as a whole.

In just four years, Serbia has managed to turn information and communication technologies into the fastest growing sector of its economy, which today accounts for the largest share in exports.

We have introduced significant tax incentives for investing in start-up companies, research and development. We set up the Science Fund and increased the budget of the Innovation Fund more than tenfold, Brnabic said.

The Prime Minister said that Serbia follows the development of new technologies in Russia and that, thanks to that, important partnerships have been established with the world's strongest scientific centres, such as Skolkovo.

All this, along with huge investments in capital projects for the construction of road and railway infrastructure, on which we cooperate with Russian companies such as RZD, helped us to have a more flexible and resilient economy and to minimise our economic decline last year – it stood at only 0.9 percent, and that this year we have a rapid recovery and dynamic growth of more than seven percent, she stressed, adding that investment in knowledge, innovation and advanced technologies will continue.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the development of artificial intelligence is defined as a strategically important pillar of further economic development of Serbia, with a clear plan for Serbia to profile itself as a regional leader in that area by the end of 2030.

She recalled that Serbia was the first in the region and the 26th in the world to adopt the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence and that the Institute for the Development of Artificial Intelligence has been established.

According to her, a platform for the development of artificial intelligence has been provided, which is used free of charge by all science and technology parks, universities and institutes in Serbia, and work is also being done on the development and use of artificial intelligence in public administration.

Brnabic said that bioeconomy is the second strategically important pillar of Serbia's economic development, stating that the new modern BIO4 Campus for Biomedicine, Biotechnology, Bioinformatics and Biodiversity will be a place of cooperation among faculties, scientific institutes, start-ups and large companies in that field.

As she explained, that investment is worth approximately €200 million, and by 2030, the bioeconomy in Serbia is expected to generate an annual income of more than €1 billion.

She added that state-of-the-art Genome Sequencing Centre has been opened at the Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering of the University of Belgrade.

Serbia has made a big and important step with the production of the Sputnik V vaccine against COVID-19, she stated and expressed gratitude for Russia's support to the production of this vaccine in our country.

The Prime Minister pointed out that the third priority is energy stability, noting that our country has launched the largest investment cycle in energy in the last 30 years.

Russia is the closest partner to Serbia in achieving energy stability and security for citizens and the economy, which, as she pointed out, was shown by the recent agreement between the presidents of Serbia and Russia.

In terms of foreign policy, Serbia strives for full membership in the EU, and that in no way represents an obstacle for further improvement of political and economic relations at all levels between Serbia and the Russian Federation, Brnabic underlined.

She especially referred to the cooperation between the two countries in the field of innovation and advanced technologies on the construction of the Centre for Nuclear Technologies, for which a framework agreement was signed yesterday.

After the plenary session, the Prime Minister visited the exhibition "Made in Russia" together with her Russian counterpart Mishustin, at which the Serbian-Russian project "Belgrade Diameter" was presented, which refers to the modernisation and development of the Belgrade railway network “BG Voz”.