Serbia seeks Turkish investors

The businesspeople from Serbia and Turkey came together in the Turkish-Serbian Business Forum which was organized by the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON) in Istanbul. Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic stated bilateral trade relations were not at the desired level despite a free trade agreement which was signed between the two countries in 2010. Stating that Serbia is the 17th trading partner of Turkey, Ljajic said that Serbia provided foreign investors with the opportunity of nonrecourse loans totaling €4-10 and investors from Turkey could benefit from substantial VAT discounts in Serbia. For his part, TUSKON Chairman Rizanur Meral reiterated that trade volume between the two countries have greatly increased as a result of cooperation agreements which were signed in a visit paid by President Abdullah Gul to Serbia in 2009. Underlining that they aim to improve economic relations between the two countries, Meral said, "Our trade volume has gradually increased to climb to $600 million thanks to such agreements. We aim to increase this amount to $1 billion and support these figures with investments." Meral added that the commercial bridge programs between the two countries would be repeated in Belgrade on March 26 in cooperation with the Serbian International Trade Association (SITA).