THE XI SESSION OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL BELARUS-SERBIAN COMMISSION ON TRADE AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION WAS HELD IN MINSK ON JANUARY 31, 2019
The XI session of the Intergovernmental Belarusian-Serbian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation, chaired by the Minister of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Koltovich and State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Serbia Dragan Stevanovic, was held on January 31, 2019 in Minsk.
During the session, the sides discussed current issues of bilateral interaction in the fields of trade, investment, industry, agriculture, transport, tourism, scientific and technical cooperation. Particular attention is paid to the issues of industrial cooperation, first of all, the development of assembly plants of Belarusian tractors, buses, trucks and other equipment in Serbia. The Belarusian side proposed to consider the issue of establishing interaction between the profile ministries and interested business circles in the field of information technology.
Reference:
After the signing of an intergovernmental agreement on free trade in 2009, the trade turnover between Belarus and Serbia increased almost 5 times, reaching a maximum of 250 million US dollars in 2015.
In January-November 2018, Belarusian exports to Serbia excluding oil, petroleum products, fertilizers and gases increased by 80% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 74.4 million US dollars. Thus, for example, for tires, exports increased 4 times, chipboard boards - 1.9 times, wire from unalloyed steel - 1.4 times.
In just 11 months of 2018, 203 commodity items were exported to Serbia, while 44 items are new - they were not delivered in 2017.
Exports of services to Serbia in January-November 2018 increased by 27.9% and amounted to 6 million US dollars.
During the first half of 2018, Belarus received 862.2 thousand US dollars of investments from Serbia, incl. direct - 541.8 thousand US dollars.
Following the event, the signing of the Protocol of the Intergovernmental Belarusian-Serbian Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation was held.
The sides agreed to hold the next XII meeting of the Commission in 2020 in the Republic of Serbia.
In addition, within the framework of the visit of the Serbian delegation to the Republic of Belarus, meetings and talks were held with the leadership of the State Administration “The Administration of the Chinese-Belarusian Industrial Park “Industrial Park “The Great Stone”, the State Agency “National Agency for Investment and Privatization”, business representatives of Serbia (organized by the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry).
