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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

More funds for scientific research needed

Belgrade, 28 October 2008

Serbian Deputy Prime Minster and Minister of Science and Technological Development Bozidar Djelic said today that the Ministry’s top goal is to increase funds for research work from 0.4% to 1% of GDP.

Bozidar Djelic at today's press conference

At a press conference regarding the first 100 days of the government’s office, Djelic stressed that apart from investing in infrastructure and energy, Serbia has to invest in science and scientific research as well, adding that in the 21st century, Serbia will become either a country of knowledge, or the poor one.

He announced that the Ministry will make efforts to secure enough finds for scientific and research work, the money will be set aside not only from the budget but also interested companies, such as NIS, EPS, the agency for flight control, international financial institutions and EU funds.

Djelic pointed out that the Ministry had already negotiated with the World Bank, which is to provide Serbia nearly €50 million, and announced that by the end of October Serbia will start to negotiate with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development concerning loans for scientific projects.

Serbia will sign an agreement on scientific cooperation with China on November 1, in Beijing. Serbian President Boris Tadic will also be present.

One of the necessary preconditions for drawing foreign investments are educated workers, engineers and scientists, with a knowledge of the English language, said Djelic, adding that foreign investors are concerned with all these issues when it comes to investing in Serbia.

Investment in science and education will be beneficial for Serbia despite the fact that 2009 is expected to be a difficult year because of the global financial crisis, said Djelic.

Speaking about the Ministry’s priorities, he said that one of the most important tasks is harmonisation of legislation with EU standards to interconnect scientific institutes, universities, economy and finances oriented towards the common goal of accelerating scientific and technological development in the 21st century.

Djelic said that Serbia has been without a national strategy for scientific and technological development for three decades, announcing that a strategy will be presented to the public by June 2009 and a public competition for project funding will be held soon afterwards.

He said that the Ministry’s most prominent achievements included elimination of delays in the payment of salaries to researchers at universities and scientific institutes, Serbia’s candidacy for membership in the European Organisation for Nuclear Research and the granting of 110 scholarships to doctoral students.

He said that funds have been secured for implementing the Vinca Institute Nuclear Decommissioning programme for transporting spent nuclear fuel from Vinca to Russia. The Ministry also signed agreements on funding 442 projects for technological development.

According to Djelic, the Ministry initiated the procedure for making Serbia a member of the Barcelona Supercomputer Centre, where 12 Serbian software experts are working, together with 200 experts from around the world.