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31.01.2019 15:03 Belarus offers its buses to Serbia, suggests joint production of fire engines
MINSK, 31 January (BelTA) – Belarus shows interest in supplying its buses to Serbia and suggests joint production of fire engines, Belarusian Minister for Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade Vladimir Koltovich told the media as the meeting of the intergovernmental Belarusian-Serbian commission on trade and economic cooperation took place on 31 January, BelTA has learned.
“Belarus has announced its interest in supplying buses and trucks operating on gas for the needs of the Serbian government bodies and also in launching joint production of fire engines for the use in urban specific conditions,” Vladimir Koltovich said.
The minister is confident that there is great potential for industrial cooperation. The successful development of plants to assemble Belarusian tractors and buses in Serbia testifies to the fact. “Our enterprises are the most flexible in their approach to issues of ensuring mutually beneficial cooperation. MTZ and MAZ use a lot of Serbian components on their production lines,” the minister said.
The parties discussed the ways to increase trade and further develop economic cooperation. “We took a look at various industries. We spoke about industry, agriculture, tourism, science, technology, and IT. We discussed mechanisms to support businessmen in Belarus and Serbia in order to raise the level of both the economies,” the State Secretary of the Serbian Ministry of Economy Dragan Stevanovic said.
Following the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, Belarus and Serbia signed a protocol of the reached agreements. It will be a program document in the trade and economic area for the coming year. The document is designed to implement measures to boost cooperation in specific areas, remove barriers in mutual trade, and join actions to attract investment, support on third-country markets.
As BelTA reported earlier, on 30 January Minsk played host to a meeting of Belarusian and Serbian businessmen. The parties considered issues related to the Belarusian-Serbian trade and economic cooperation. Businessmen discussed the development of cooperation and the possibility of implementing joint projects in the areas of construction and building materials, telecommunications, automobile production, utilities, metallurgy, foundry, instrument making, chemical, food, and pharmaceutical industries.
Serbian companies expressed interest in setting up joint ventures with Belarus. Director of the Serbian company NIPS Persa Minjovic announced the plans to set up a joint venture with Belarusian partners. “We are engaged in the storage, import and export of wheat products and all types of flour with the subsequent possibility of producing bread and bakery products. We are interested in both raw materials and joint cooperation, joint investment,” she said.
According to Belarusian Ambassador to Serbia Valery Brylev, if all the concluded agreements and contracts are implemented, the trade between the two countries may reach $500 million within next several years. Yet, the figure is at about $160 million.
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