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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

French companies invited to invest in Serbia

Belgrade, 10 June 2009

Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic today invited representatives from 40 French companies to invest in Serbia, primarily in infrastructure, telecommunications and transport.

At a meeting with directors and representatives from French companies, members of the MEDEF association, Cvetkovic said that the current level of Serbia’s trade with France shows that cooperation can be increased when it comes to investment.

He said that the positive experiences of French and other foreign investors are the best recommendation for investing in Serbia.

The Prime Minister said that French and Serbian companies have cooperated in road infrastructure over the construction of Corridor 10, adding that cooperation on energy efficiency, civil engineering, telecommunications and transport systems is also important.

The Prime Minister said that Serbia has made great efforts to become more competitive by introducing tax incentives, simplifying procedures for establishing a new enterprise and implementing a large number of other reforms.

He said that the Serbian government will strive to ensure macroeconomic stability and maintain Serbia’s economic activities, adding that with its measures against the crisis the government ensured better liquidity of the economy and reduced costs of loans.

Financial support from domestic sources will be around €2 billion, while from foreign sources approximately €480 million has been secured for loans to the economy, Cvetkovic said, recalling that Serbia was the first country in the region to close their arrangement with the IMF.

He informed French business people about the Serbian government’s decision to start implementing the Transitional Trade Agreement with the EU, as well as about Serbia’s EU aspirations and voiced his appreciation to France for its support concerning the removal of visa restrictions for Serbian citizens.

EU integration is Serbia’s strategic goal in the upcoming period and we will now work hard to increase the competitiveness of our economy, which will be characterised by stability, dynamism and the presence of foreign companies, Cvetkovic said.

Deputy Prime Minister for EU Integration Bozidar Djelic said that French businesspeople have invested around $ 500 million in Serbia so far, but bearing in mind that France is the world’s sixth largest economic power there is still room for more investment.

He voiced his belief that France’s political support and the signing of the strategic partnership between the two countries will be a good basis for stronger economic, financial and other ties.

It was agreed at a recent meeting between Serbian President Boris Tadic and French President Nicolas Sarkozy that a strategic partnership agreement will be signed by the end of this year , said Djelic, adding that this will encourage better relations between the two countries.

He said that a visit by President Sarkozy to Serbia, expected to take place at the end of this year or the beginning of the next one, will help strengthen bilateral relations.

We expect that through the strategic partnership, which includes economic, financial, security, educational, cultural and scientific cooperation as well as cooperation regarding EU integration, relations between the two countries will be raised to a new level, reminiscent of the years between the two world wars, said Djelic.

He said that French support for visa liberalisation and Serbia’s efforts to join the EU will have a very positive effect on the upcoming EU foreign ministers’ meeting to be held in Luxembourg.

Serbia knows that it can count on strong and clear support from France for the removal of visa restrictions for Serbian citizens and for unblocking the transitional trade agreement, said Djelic.