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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

2010 budget bill submitted to parliament

Belgrade, 3 December 2009

Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said today that the government submitted the 2010 budget bill to Serbian parliament and voiced hope that it will be adopted by December 20.

Mirko Cvetkovic

Cvetkovic said at the Serbian-Slovak Business Forum, held at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce, that the 2010 budget is development focused because it envisages investment in infrastructure and balanced spending.

At the meeting, which was attended by Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic and businessmen from the two countries, investors from Slovakia voiced interest in investing into the energy and infrastructure sectors.

Serbian Chamber of Commerce Vice President Mihailo Vesovic said that Slovakia is a very important economic partner for Serbia and recalled that the volume of trade hit record heights last year, when it reached almost $600 million.

Last year, Slovakia ranked 14th on the list of Serbia's foreign trade partners in terms of exports and 17th in terms of imports.

Vesovic said that the best examples of cooperation between the two countries are the successful privatisation of Gosa from Smederevska Palanka and the cooperation between US Steel Kosice and US Steel Smederevo.

He explained that strategic sectors for investment in Serbia are the car industry, information technology, electronics industry, road, rail and energy infrastructure.

Vesovic said that cooperation between the two countries could be greatly improved in the car industry, because Serbia could join the chain of suppliers for producers in Slovakia.

Head of Economic and Commercial Affairs at the Slovak embassy in Serbia Peter Molnar stressed that the Slovak government believes that Serbia’s energy sector has great potential and must be developed further, adding that Slovak investors are interested in investing in the construction and rehabilitation of electricity power plants in Serbia, as well as in cooperation in all other industrial areas.

Molnar said that Serbia is the biggest beneficiary of the Slovak Agency for International Development Cooperation, ‘Slovakaid’, and several projects, particularly those related to the utilities sector, in Serbia are being financed by them.

Vice President of the Slovak Chamber of Commerce Julius Kostolny said that a number of entrepreneurs were present at today’s Forum, stressing that it has been noticed that there is heightened interest in business cooperation on both sides, which is promising.

The main events at the Business Forum are meetings between Slovak and Serbian business people, which will be attended by representatives of 25 Slovak enterprises from the food, building, chemical, mining, energy and information technology industries.