Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic said today in Madrid that Spain clearly supports the European path for Serbia, and will firmly advocate that Serbia becomes a candidate for EU membership by the end of the year.

Cvetkovic told Tanjug, following a meeting with Spanish King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister of Spain Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, that the talks were focused on political and economic issues.

As for Kosovo-Metohija, Spain fully accepts our position that only dialogue can lead to a solution, said the Prime Minister.

As regards economic cooperation, trade between the two countries was discussed, as well as investment, in particular during the talsk at the Spanish Confederation of Employers, which gathers the most important businessmen of the country.

This presentation will relate to the development of both economies, as well as political relations, and the audience will consist of businessmen, politicians and journalists, said the Prime Minister.

Political relations between Serbia, Spain incentive for boosting economic cooperation

Presenting Serbia’s investment possibilities at the Confederation of Spanish Employers, Cvetkovic underlined that Serbia is undoubtedly heading towards EU integration and it expects to acquire candidate status before the year’s end.

He noted that considerable political and economic reforms have been implemented in Serbia with this aim, adding that the business climate is being improved on a daily basis and synchronised with European standards.

The Prime Minister observed that a number of international companies are already operating in Serbia, including Fiat, US Steel, Philip Morris, British American Tobacco, Lafarge and Ball Packaging, stressing that none of the foreign investors in Serbia have left, and in fact most of them are expanding their investment.

As Serbia’s advantages, Cvetkovic mentioned tax facilitations and incentives for investors, as well as free trade agreements which Serbia signed with a number of states, such as Russia, Turkey and CEFTA countries, which make up a market of several billion people available for customs-free export.

He also observed that Serbia is a macro economically stable country that recently signed a precautionary arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which proves that it leads a credible fiscal and monetary policy that will be stable for a long period.

Minister of Economy and Regional Development Nebojsa Ciric also spoke about the advantages of investing in Serbia and stressed that thanks to the arrangement with the IMF and its responsible fiscal policy, Serbia managed to improve its credit rating during the crisis.

Ciric said that Serbia and Spain have had a relatively low level of trade and a deficit on the Serbian side, which means there is potential to further boost trade relations.

Spanish Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Alfredo Bonet underlined that Serbia has a very favourable geographic position, as well as large potential of human capital and a good education system.

Bonet stated that Serbia and Spain still have modest indicators of economic cooperation, but that progress can be seen year on year.

As potential areas for cooperation, the participants in the meeting mentioned telecommunications, infrastructure, energy and environmental protection.

Spanish companies interested in investing in environmental infarstrukture in Serbia

Minister of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic said today in a meeting with Spanish Minister for Environment and Rural Affaires Rosa Aguilar Rivero that Serbia is open for investments in various areas of environmental infrastructure.

Dulic told the Tanjug news agency after talks with Aguilar Rivero that these are investments that will in the next few years cost more than €3 billion and Serbia as a candidate for EU membership will use European funds build all these facilities.

He said that Serbia is a country rich in biomass, while Spanish companies have vast experience in the use of biomass in electricity generation and heating of cities, he said, noting that they will certainly be important partners to our utility companies.