The Serbian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić said today that the Economic and Trade Forum of China and Central and Eastern European Countries was an opportunity for Serbia to improve its international position and reputation, but also a chance for the entire region to begin thinking about specific infrastructure projects.
He said that Serbia should focus its efforts on the export, to the Chinese market, of several products with which it can achieve positive results.
Among these products, Ljajić mentioned wheat and other cereals, a variety of seeds, meat, non-ferrous and ferrous metals.
“I think that very often we are not aware of the importance of this event and that we often have the impression that we are appreciated more by outsiders that we appreciate ourselves” said Ljajić for RTS.
He stressed the importance of the summit in the political, economic and regional sense, and expressed his belief that its significance will become much more evident after several months and years.
He added that his Ministry has signed an agreement in the field of telecommunications with one of the two best known Chinese, state-owned, telecommunications companies, which will pave the way for Chinese investments in that field.
According to Ljajić, cooperation was agreed in the field of digitalization, development of broad band networks, e-commerce, development of optical infrastructure and everything that improves the conditions for further development of information and communication technologies.
“The arrival of such a company will increase the total revenue in this area and boost competition thus contributing to better quality services in the field of information and communication technologies,” said Deputy Prime Minister Ljajić.
He stressed that the implementation of all agreements will be in accordance with all European and international standards; Ljajić said that the summit and projects to be implemented go in favor of the EU.
“No one can renounce the huge Chinese market and the huge potential of Chinese investments. The EU is the first foreign trade partner of China and everything that it does is in the interest of the countries of the region and the EU, not to mention the summit’s contribution and the contribution of future projects to regional stability,” underlined Ljajić.
When it comes to exports and imports from China, Ljajić said that on the one hand we have a billion and a half dollars of imports from China, and on the other a little more than nine million dollars of exports.
However, he explained, according to Chinese data, Serbia exported about 180 million dollars to that country, and the difference is due to the fact that these goods, primarily ore, did not go directly from Serbia.
When it comes to tourism, Ljajić said that this year, 95 million Chinese tourists toured the world and spent 70 billion dollars, which is a huge potential, and Serbia is struggling to attract a part of these tourists.
Deputy Prime Minister Ljajić said that the indicators for the first nine months of this year are very encouraging, and that the number of overnights stays by Chinese tourists increased by 95 percent.
