The Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić signed today an agreement on the reduction of roaming charges in public mobile networks with the relevant ministers of Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia.

The agreement envisages a gradual reduction in roaming fees in the signatory countries, with a view to bringing them in the next three years to the level valid in the EU member countries. Ljajić told reporters that, in a month’s time, the authorities should define the exact pace of reducing roaming fees in the national legislations of the countries that signed the agreement, the third thing being talks with mobile operators.

“We are aware that they will not be thrilled with our initiative, but we will try to present clear economic arguments as to why it is in their interest too for the agreement to be realized,” said Ljajić.

He noted that Serbian citizens pay five times more for one minute in roaming, three times more for an SMS, and 33 times more for using GPRS.

Ljajić said that during today’s meeting, the signatories of the deal agreed to launch an initiative toward the EU, and that the EU directive on roaming charges is applicable to Serbian citizens, although the country is not yet a member of the EU, but is in the process of accession.

He noted that the first initiative by Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia had not yielded results, and added that he is not too optimistic this time either.

Ljajić said that this Agreement will remain open for other countries.

He stressed that this regional initiative seeks to promote a model of cooperation among the countries in the region, especially when it comes to the economy.

According to him, this step is not important for attracting foreign investments, but also for the joint appearance on third markets.

“Individually we are all too small, our economy cannot be competitive and this kind of cooperation and association is essential and necessary so that our economy could compete with more developed European and world economies,” said Ljajić.

He added that similar forms of cooperation will be proposed in other sectors as well in order for us to become more competitive, and also to attract more foreign investors through joint projects.