Parliamentary cooperation between Serbia and Canada can greatly help in fostering all round bilateral relations, Serbian Parliament Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic and Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons Peter Milliken said in Belgrade on Friday.

Cooperation should above all be fostered at the level of parliamentary committees, they said.

Geographic distance was not an obstacle to intensifying the cooperation between the two countries, and that cooperation will influence bilateral state relations, Djukic-Dejanovic said after the meeting.

The talk focused above all on differences and similarities in the legislative, representative and monitoring activities of parliaments, she said.

The greatest difference was in the number of laws that were adopted - 500 by the Serbian Parliament and five by the Canadian Parliament, she said.

She pointed to the adoption of the Law on the National Asembly and noted that new rules of procedure are on the agenda of the current fourth regular session, in which the Canadians were particularly interested.

The similarity lies in the respect by both parliaments of the parliamentary democracy as a basis for the development of social democracy, she said.

Everything must be done to foster economic cooperation, she said, and thanked Canada for its donations to Serbia from 2001 to 2008 and for prospective future investments in Serbia's economy.

In that context, it would be useful to complete the process of signing agreements on social security, avoidance of double taxation and air traffic, she said.

Milliken expressed hope that Canada will be able to contribute to Serbia's and the region's political and economic development.

He recalled his first visit to Serbia in 2002, adding that his talks both then and now with Serbian officials were very useful for fostering cooperation.