Page 15 - bne_newspaper_October_13_2017

Southeast Europe
October 13, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 15
Serbia woos Turkish investors during Erdogan visit
bne IntelliNews
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic gave
an extremely warm welcome to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who arrived
in Belgrade for a two-day visit on October 10, as Serbia seeks to attract investors from the region’s largest economy.
Belgrade is keen to boost economic growth by attracting export-oriented FDI and has already had some success with persuading Turkish investors, especially in the textiles sector, to set up shop. With this year’s economic growth looking shaky — the International Monetary Fund has
just lowered its 2017 outlook to 3% as drought hit the agriculture sector this summer — securing further investments to push up future growth has become even more critical.
In talks with Erdogan, Vucic promised the best investment conditions in the region for Turkish businesspeople. “Whoever offers you better conditions, come to us and we will improve our conditions and you will get 5% better conditions than anywhere else in neighbourhood, I personally guarantee you this,” Vucic said, underlining that Serbia wants to attract as many Turkish investors as possible.
At a joint press conference with Vucic, Erdogan said he would back Turkish investments in Serbia, and described the signing of 12 bilateral agreements during his visit as "a good foundation for future cooperation," B92 reported.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic greets his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan at Belgrade airport.
"There is also room to boost the bilateral trade volume from the present $800mn a year to over $1bn by the end of the year," Erdogan told a press conference with Vucic.
Establishing more production facilities in Serbia would help Turkey to place goods on the Russian market, as Serbia has signed a Free Trade Agreement with Russia that allows products that are over 51% made in Serbia to be exported to Russia duty free.
After welcoming Erdogan and his wife at Belgrade airport on the evening of October 9, Vucic and other officials have been trying to show warm hospitality and make Erdogan’s time in Serbia pleasant and unique. Vucic even told the Turkish president that nowhere in the world he “would find such hospitality and such a desire for cooperation” as in Serbia.
“I promise you that, and I am convinced that together we can provide a safe and secure and incomparably richer Balkans,” Vucic told the guests from Turkey.
Other Serbian officials exaggerated their efforts to get Erdogan’s sympathies. At the gala dinner on October 10, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic serenaded Erdogan with a Turkish song. Dacic is known as a minister of foreign affairs who barely speaks English, but he likes to sing and often takes the