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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia makes big steps in science, technology, IT sector

Belgrade, 26 November 2022

Prime Minister Ana Brnabic spoke today with representatives of one of the largest global genetics companies, BGI Group, about cooperation in the field of scientific and technological research, biomedicine and biotechnology.

The Prime Minister assessed that Serbia has made a big step forward in the field of science and technology and the IT sector, which in recent years has become the largest net export branch of the Serbian economy.

Stating that so far around €200 million has been invested in institutes and science and technology parks, the Prime Minister emphasised that Serbia will continue to support and invest in these areas with the aim of creating an economy based on new technologies and science.

She added that the plan is to invest more in the development of artificial intelligence, which the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Novi Sad, with more than forty employees, is also working on.

For the purpose of further development of artificial intelligence, Serbia acquired a supercomputer of the latest generation with a platform for artificial intelligence and adopted a strategy for the further development of this field, she said.

Speaking about the cooperation with BGI group, the Prime Minister pointed out that the construction of the BIO4 campus for biomedicine, biotechnology, bioinformatics and biodiversity will begin next year, which will be one of the first such centres in this part of Europe.

The Prime Minister added that, in this sense, it is of great importance for Serbia to transfer experience and knowledge and to cooperate with one of the most important companies in the world in these areas.

The officials agreed that in the coming period it is necessary to create a detailed cooperation plan, which will primarily be based on activities in the field of research, development and education, with the aim of further developing the economy and improving the health of Serbian citizens.

Representatives of BGI group, one of the world's leading biotechnology companies, which has the motto "Omics for All", emphasized that the support of the state is very important for the systemic development of science, society and the state based on innovation and knowledge.

They expressed their willingness to actively work with Serbian partners and the government of Serbia to promote the welfare of Serbian citizens and the development of bioscience in our country.

The Prime Minister thanked for the help provided by this Chinese company during the opening of the Centre for Genome Sequencing and Bioinformatics, as well as for the help during the opening of the two Fire Eye laboratories, which were of great importance in the fight against the coronavirus.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation Jelena Begovic as well as Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Serbia Chen Bo.