Serbia and Slovakia sign protocol on economic cooperation

Serbia and Slovakia signed a protocol on cooperation in the fields of energy, environmental protection, transportation, trade and agriculture on Tuesday, Tanjug news agency reports.

The protocol was signed by Serbian Minister of Energy, Development and the Environmental Protection Zorana Mihajlovic and Slovakia's Economy Minister Tomas Malatinsky, and Mihajlovic used the opportunity to call on Slovak companies to invest more in Serbia.

Mihajlovic told reporters that the trade between Serbia and Slovakia increased by 35 percentin January and February this year, expressing the expectation that it could grow even more after the signing of the protocol.

She pointed out that there are great opportunities to expand cooperation in the energy sector.

Mihajlovic added that there are also opportunities for a pipeline construction as a joint venture of Serbia's gas producer Srbijagas and Slovak companies, and for cooperation in the field of transportation.

Expansion of cooperation is possible in agriculture, especially in the field of protection of plants and food safety, said Mihajlovic.

Malatinsky stated that about 20 Slovak companies with set projects are already operating in Serbia.

He pointed out that Slovak investment may increase and bilateral economic cooperation is on an upward trajectory.

Slovak companies are interested in investing in renewable energy and construction of solar power plants.

The signing of the protocol marked the end of a two-day visit of the Slovak business delegation to Serbia.

A Slovakia-Serbia business forum was held at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce on Monday, where the participants also pointed to the great opportunities for improving the economic cooperation in the fields of energy, environment, transportation, infrastructure, agriculture and tourism.