The 5th meeting of the Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation between Serbia and Slovenia took place yesterday and today on the mountain near Kranj. The successful economic cooperation between the two countries was confirmed at the meeting, as well as the possibility and mutual interest for its further improvement.
In their capacity as co-chairmen of the Joint Committee, the delegations were led by Stevan Nikčević, State Secretary at the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of the Republic of Serbia and Stanislav Raščan, Ambassador, Director General of the Directorate for Economic Diplomacy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia.
The economic developments in both countries were reviewed, with special emphasis on bilateral economic cooperation. A continuous increase in trade exchange was noted, which last year amounted to nearly 800 million euros. Slovenia is ranked ninth among the foreign trade partners of Serbia.
According to the records of SIEPA, the total investment of Slovenian companies in Serbia since the year 2000 amounted to around one billion euros, which ranks the Republic of Slovenia eighth as an investor country in Serbia.
Cooperation in priority areas was considered in detail with suggestions for its Improvement. The priority areas are: agriculture, forestry and environment, information and communication technologies (ICT), transport and cooperation between the institutions and economies of the two countries in rehabilitating the areas affected by natural disasters.
In this context, gratitude was expressed to the Slovenian side for the given prompt and effective assistance in manpower and equipment involved in the rescue operations during the devastating floods that hit the Republic of Serbia in mid-May this year.
The importance of this cooperation was confirmed by the Letter of Intent for concluding a bilateral agreement on cooperation in the protection against natural and other disasters which was signed by Prime Minister Vučić and Bratušek on behalf of the Governments of Serbia and Slovenia, on June 17 of the current year in Belgrade.
