Eximbank of Turkey has allocated USD 400 million for loans for various infrastructural projects in Serbia, as confirmed today by the representatives of Turkey at the seating of the Joint Committee for economic cooperation of the two countries, says Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism, and Telecommunications of Serbia Rasim Ljajić.

“We are still negotiating the conditions of use of those funds, but I do believe that we will find a solution and that those conditions will be advantageous for us, so that the funds could become operational and used, primarily, for the development of the road infrastructure in Serbia”, says Mr Ljajić at the press conference in the Palace of Serbia.

Mr Ljajić has announced that the parliaments of the two countries should ratify the signed free-trade agreements as soon as possible so that the increased goods exchange could be realised from current 1.2 billion to two billion dollars.

Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey Fikri Ishik has said that for Turkey Serbia is the key country in the Balkans and that Serbia is a neighbour to them, even though they don’t share borders.

Mr Ishik has said that Turkish companies want to participate in big infrastructural projects in Serbia and that one of the main joint projects for the realisation in the forthcoming period is the construction of the “roundabout” motorway between Belgrade and Sarajevo.

“Our technical delegations have also met in Belgrade, performing the field visits of the sections of the road. We are currently carrying out all technical preparations for the realisation of that project”, says Mr Ishik.