Slovenia and Serbia still have great potential for cooperation in agriculture and the food industry, Slovenian Agriculture Minister Iztok Jarc and his visiting Serbian colleague Slobodan Milosavljevic agreed in Ljubljana on Tuesday.
While highlighting the good relations between Slovenia and Serbia, the pair called for the promotion of Slovenian investments into Serbia's economy and for boosting trade between the countries. Jarc and Milosavljevic discussed EU-related matters as well as bilateral issues. The Slovenian minister explained the ministers discussed extensively Slovenia's experience in meeting EU criteria in the areas of agriculture, veterinary issues and the payment agency. Milosavljevic said Serbia would accept the friendly hand offered by Slovenia in helping Serbia's EU accession talks and in the phasing of EU funds.
The two ministers also talked about the possibility of Serbia hosting a ministerial conference during Slovenia's EU presidency. Milosavljevic meanwhile pointed out that Slovenia was one of the biggest investors in Serbia and expressed his expectation that investment by Slovenian companies would increase in the future.
While Jarc stressed that Slovenian agriculture and food companies were interested in investing in Serbia, the pair agreed that there was still plenty of room for cooperation and that actions would be taken to promote it.
Jarc and Milosavljevic also discussed trade betweem Slovenia and Serbia, which amounted to USD 560m last year and was up 50% in the first five months of this year.
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