Selaković: To strengthen economic cooperation with the countries of the Black Sea region

30. Jun 2021.
Today, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Nikola Selaković, participated in the video meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC).

Speaking about the corona virus pandemic and the challenges that lie ahead, Selaković stressed that in the first place there is a need to return the economies to pre-pandemic levels.

The Minister said that our country attaches great importance to the improvement of regional cooperation and that it is ready to further develop economic relations with all countries in the region, especially in the field of trade, transport and tourism.

Selaković underlined that Serbia managed to preserve a positive economic climate and that it achieves extraordinary economic successes.

"According to GDP growth of +1.7 percent in the first quarter of 2021, Serbia is in third place in Europe, behind Luxembourg and Estonia. We expect GDP growth in the second quarter of this year to be between 12 and 16 percent, on which we base positive projections of overall economic growth for 2021. Our estimates are that growth at the end of the year will be 6.5 percent, while the IMF estimates that GDP will be 6 percent in the plus. In the second quarter of 2021, we expect the highest industry growth of 19 percent, construction of 38 percent and growth in the area of services of 17.7 percent", said the Minister.

Selaković also conveyed that the Government of Serbia adopted several packages of economic measures for recovery and support to the economy in the total value of almost 8 billion euros, and singled out measures in the tourism sector, financial assistance to small and medium enterprises, and assistance to the transport sector.

Also, the Minister pointed out that Serbia managed to increase foreign direct investments by 12.7 percent during the first five months of this year, compared to the same period in 2020. He added that Serbia has completed several large infrastructure projects, and especially pointed out the importance of Corridor 10, which will contribute to further improvement and strengthening of the ties between the Black Sea region and the rest of Europe.

At the end of his presentation, the head of Serbian diplomacy thanked the former Secretary General of the BSEC, Michael Christides, for his leadership and congratulated Lazăr Comănescu on his election. He also thanked the Albanian presidency and wished a successful mandate to the next, Georgian presidency.