The Presidents of Serbia and Turkey, Tomislav Nikolić and Abdullah Gul, stated on Monday from Ankara that it is time to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries.
The Turkish head of state announced an ‘economic boom’ in Serbia, reported Serbian electronic media at the beginning of Nikolić’s two-day visit to Turkey.
The topics of discussion between the two heads of state included, among other things, Turkey’s investments in infrastructure projects in Serbia and Ankara’s influence on the stability of the Balkans, with the Serbian president emphasizing that he and his Turkish counterpart agreed that both would be ‘only partially satisfied’ when the trade exchange between the two countries reaches one billion euros.
– There will be an economic boom and explosion in the period ahead. Expect economic cooperation to become increasingly intense – the Turkish president is quoted by Belgrade electronic media.
Gul stated that progress in economic cooperation is already noticeable and personally invited Turkish investors to invest in Serbia. The Turkish president emphasized that, although Serbia and Turkey do not share a common border, Ankara considers Serbia a close neighbor.
Nikolić, as reported by Belgrade media, said that Serbia is open to Turkish investments, for the arrival of large Turkish companies in Serbia, for building infrastructure, and for granting concessions for energy production.
On the first day of his visit to Turkey, the Serbian president supported the proposal of his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul to hold a trilateral meeting of Serbia-Turkey-Bosnia and Herzegovina in May in Ankara.
