Serbia signs protocol on amendments to Free Trade Agreement with Belarus

Minister of Economy Nebojsa Ciric signed yesterday in Minsk a protocol on amendments and supplements to the Free Trade Agreement with Belarus, which harmonizes Serbia's trade with the Customs Union of Russian Federation, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

Minister of Exterior Sergei Martinov signed the protocol on behalf of the state of Belarus, the media in Belarus reported.

After signing that document, Martinov pointed out that the trade exchange between the two countries had grown significantly and that it had amounted to about USD 110 million in 2010.

The Ministry of Economy and Regional Development of Serbia announced earlier that the protocol with Belarus would enable improvement of the competitiveness of the Serbian economy and export, as well as better mutual exchange of goods with the member countries of the Customs Union.

During the first four months of this year, the total exchange of goods with Belarus amounted to USD 48.3 million, USD 13.8 million of which was the value of Serbia's export, which is 66.6 percent more than in the same period last year, while the import was worth USD 34.5 million, 8.9 percent more than in 2010, the ministry announced in its statement.

The statement also reads that the process of harmonization of Serbia's trade with the Customs Union will soon be finished by the signing of a document with the Russian Federation, which has already been harmonized. Serbia also signed the appropriate Free Trade Agreement with Kazakhstan on October 7, 2010.