2 October 2021

 

President Vučić visits Dubai

 

 

The President of the Republic of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is staying in Dubai, where he opened the Serbian pavilion within the World Exhibition EXPO 2020.

 

"It is an honour to be able to present ourselves in the best way at this World Exhibition and show that Serbia, as well as the United Arab Emirates, wants future generations to be competitive with the world", said President Vučić and expressed satisfaction that this exhibition is being held exactly in Dubai, because the United Arab Emirates are celebrating 50 years of existence. He pointed out that the two countries are connected by a partnership, which is also reflected in the construction of a vaccine factory in Serbia.

 

President Vučić stated that joint projects contribute to the development of Serbia and give impetus to our economy, and stressed that he was especially pleased that Serbia could, in cooperation with the UAE, develop the Belgrade Waterfront project.

 

"I am happy that we made the pavilion in such a way that we can be proud. We have extracted the best from Serbian history and tradition, but presented it in the most modern way. We show what Serbia should look like, we show our creative industry, which represents our export of 3.5 billion dollars, and in which 127,000 people work. These are fantastic things for our Serbia and that is what we see as our chance. We have shown how we connect the economy with the most modern technologies. Events like this are a great opportunity to promote our economic cooperation. Economic prosperity is a precondition for progress", President Vučić emphasized and added that Serbia has become the fastest growing economy in our region, which has constantly growing results in attracting foreign direct investment and trade. He said that Serbia is interested in global trade, which is one of our most important priorities and why we are trying to develop other economic sectors. 

 

"Serbia wants to advance in innovations and the field of digitalization, as well as to cooperate with everyone, because that is the only way to develop together and reduce political tensions. We will present different economic sectors, contents, technological innovations. Our wish is to position Serbia on the list of the most powerful countries in terms of innovations", said President Vučić and expressed hope that Serbia will succeed in presenting itself through its projects and workshops in virtual reality. He singled out "Belgrade Waterfront" as one of the most important projects that put Belgrade on the list of the most important international investments.

 

The EXPO 2020 World Exhibition lasts until 31 March 2022, and for six months, under the slogan "Serbia creates ideas – inspired by the past, we create the future", through more than 150 different events, Serbia will present its various economic sectors, scientific content, technological innovations, creative industries and the tourist offer, with the aim of presenting itself as a modern, innovative country, attractive for the development of trade and tourism. 

 

On the second day of the visit, President Vučić attended the opening of the Business Centre of the Republic of Serbia within the World Exhibition EXPO 2020 and said that Serbia wants to keep the investors and that every business that businessmen bring to the country is important. He warned that Europe and the world are facing a crisis that could have unforeseeable consequences, which, when it comes to the economy, will be tougher than the corona crisis, and that is the energy crisis. 

 

"The biggest problem, bigger than the corona, for businessmen, for the whole of Europe and the world, is beginning to be the energy crisis, which is the biggest in the last three decades, with unforeseeable consequences. Now it can be seen that we were right. I can proudly say that we allowed gas to flow through Serbia", stated President Vučić and added that we are currently taking 6.5 million cubic meters of gas through the gas pipeline that runs through our country, and that we have an obligation to transfer 15 million cubic meters to Hungary. 

 

"Our energy price is high on the market, but we are subsidizing it. We are losing a lot of money on that", said President Vučić and announced that a special team of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the Government of Serbia will be established to deal with this problem. 

 

President Vučić wished businessmen to make as many agreements as possible, make as many deals as possible, but also friendships, and stressed that all logistics provided to the businessmen are important, who should establish contacts with representatives of the United Arab Emirates but also other countries. 

 

"Sometimes it is not possible to close deals immediately because there are some problems, but in a year or two, friendship will bring results. I am sure we will be able to do something tangible for the people. The United Arab Emirates are a truly friendly country and it is a good time for some of our agricultural and industrial products to find a place in that market, but also in the market of Bahrain, Oman and some other countries in the region", explained President Vučić and expressed hope that we will expand from that market, further towards Asia, Central Asia and the East. 

 

"From here, we can make a good breakthrough towards India, Pakistan and China", said President Vučić, adding that this is an opportunity for Serbia to offer all the best it has, from confectionery products, products from the wine industry to the sector of IT, high technology, artificial intelligence, to offer cooperation in agriculture, but also in the field of energy. He said that the state is at the disposal of businessmen, to help them as much as it can, and pointed out that the gates of the East are slowly but surely opening. 

 

"For the first time this year, we have 2.9 billion in investments in the first nine months. The best years are coming, but the structure of those investments has changed. Among the first three companies, two are from China, which has never been the case. More and more companies are coming from the East. European, German companies dominate, but the situation is slowly changing", stated President Vučić and repeated that it was confirmed that GDP growth of seven percent is expected by the end of the year, but that he hopes that this growth can even be 7, 5 percent.

 

Source: www.predsednik.rs