Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić met today with the Ambassador of Kazakhstan Nurbah Rustemov, accredited to Serbia on a non-residential basis, with whom he discussed ways to improve overall relations between the two countries and opportunities to promote economic cooperation.

Rustemov invited Serbian companies working in the field of road infrastructure, construction and agricultural production to participate in the realization of a Kazakh government program. 40 billion USD will be set aside for the program to build more roads, railways, schools, hospitals and food production plants over the next three years.

Ljajić and Ambassador Rustemov agreed that 2015 should see the holding of the first meeting of the Serbia-Kazakhstan intergovernmental economic cooperation committee. They said a bilateral agreement on the avoidance of double taxation, which was fully prepared, and agreements that were in progress – on cooperation in the field of tourism, cooperation in third markets and cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies – would be signed soon.

The Ambassador of Kazakhstan said his country would never recognize the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo. Rustemov said that Kazakhstan would open a consulate general office in Belgrade in 2016, and an embassy after that.