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Southeast Europe
September 21, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 12
macro-strategy, told Reuters: “Just a rate hike is not enough.”
Turkey needed to publish stress test parameters of banks and details of fiscal tightening, as well as secure external funding, he added, saying: “The economy is entering recession, interest rates will be hurting, so the more they do to improve inves- tor sentiment, the better.”
Erdogan, meanwhile, on November 16, reiter- ated that he still disagreed with the necessity for higher interest rates amid Turkey’s economic situation.
Serbia taps into rich stream of Chinese investment
bne IntelliNews
Serbia’s government signed a raft of deals with Chinese companies that will bring billions more euros of investment into the Balkan country dur- ing Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s latest visit to China.
Belgrade has sought to position itself as the main destination for Chinese investment in Southeast Europe, as Chinese industrial and engineering companies seek opportunities in the region. Serbia is part of the transport corridor between the majority Chinese owned Greek port of Piraeus, but it also has relatively cheap in- dustrial assets, and Belgrade is open to working with Chinese construction companies and finan- ciers on numerous infrastructure projects.
The main deal signed during Vucic’s latest trip, with China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC),
“Yesterday the central bank carried out the much talked about interest rate hike... Now we will see the result of [central bank] independence,” he said.
“Right now, personally, I am being patient, but my patience has its limits because we can’t accept a lever of exploitation.”
He also warned enterprises that stockpiled goods to exploit higher-profit opportunities amid the Turkish economy’s economic challenges that they would be identified and subjected to raids.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (L) shakes hands with China's Xi Jinping during his latest visit to Beijing.
was on the construction of an industrial park in the Belgrade suburb of Borca. Borca is already attached to another Belgrade suburb, Zemum, by the "Friendship Bridge” built by CRBC in the early part of this decade.
CRBC will now invest €220mn in the construc- tion of the industrial park. At the same time, investments by companies that set up facilities in the park are expected to reach €2bn, the govern- ment said in a statement. The industrial park will be built on 320 hectares of land and is expected to attract around 1,000 Chinese companies, cre- ating 10,000 new jobs.
Aside from the industrial park, the two parties agreed to intensify talks on a project to repair the railway line linking the Serbian capital Belgrade to Nis, the largest city in southern Serbia.