In order for greater economic cooperation between Serbia and Bahrain, it is planned to conclude agreements in the next period that would avoid double taxation and promote and protect investments of both countries, which would legally enable businessmen to do business more easily, said today the Minister of Finance Sinisa Mali at the opening of the Serbia-Bahrain business forum.
Mali pointed out that an agreement on strategic association with Bahrain, as Serbia already has with the United Arab Emirates, is also planned.
“With these agreements, both sides will have more trust. From that legal perspective, we want to make a path that we will be able to walk in the coming years,” Mali said.
He told businessmen from Bahrain that Serbia is a good country for investment for several reasons, and among other things, he stated that our laws are in line with European ones, due to the strategic goal of our country to become a full member of the EU.
“It gives investors security,” Mali pointed out.
He also pointed out that Serbia has free trade agreements with the EU, the Eurasian Union, Turkey, CEFTA, which opens the possibility for all investors who come here to export without taxes and customs to markets of over one billion people.
Mali also pointed out that Serbia has shown itself well in the fight against the pandemic in recent years, and added that it fought that battle on two fronts – health and economic.
Thanks to the support packages for citizens and the economy in the total amount of eight billion euros, the economy managed to avoid the scenario of laying off workers and closing factories, Mali added.
“In the UK, Spain, Italy and many other countries, millions of people have lost their jobs because companies have closed down. We have managed to avoid that scenario because we have supported the economy and citizens with three aid packages,” Mali said.
He says that our economy has remained stable, Serbia had the lowest drop in GDP in Europe, unemployment in 2020 was lower than in 2019, and public debt is not endangered and has remained below 60 percent.
On the other hand, Mali adds, Serbia fought to provide enough masks and medicines for the citizens, to build two Covid hospitals, increase the salaries of health workers, but also to fight for four types of vaccines.
Mali pointed out that Serbia has been repeatedly declared the country that, according to its economy, attracts the most foreign direct investments, and that, says the minister, shows that it is economically stable, has a good taxation system and supports investors.
The Minister also spoke about the “Serbia 2025” program, which plans to invest 40 billion euros in infrastructure – highways, railway reconstruction, construction of industrial parks, and environmental protection.
“Thus, we want to make Serbia even more attractive for new investors,” said Mali.
The director of the State Investment Fund of Bahrain (Mumtalakat), Khalid Omar Mohamed Al Romaihi, points out that he is impressed by the results that Serbia has achieved in the field of economy.
Today’s business forum, he says, is a chance to start business ties between Serbia and Bahrain.
He pointed out that the organization he heads intends to expand in the agricultural sector, and that sector, he added, he sees as the greatest opportunity for cooperation between Serbia and Bahrain.
“I think this is certainly an area where we can work closely with Serbia. The United Arab Emirates has successful cooperation with Serbia in that area. In addition, Serbia has a stable economy, which is the main factor that every investor is looking for,” Al Romaihi said.
In addition to agriculture, the areas of cooperation in which Bahrain is interested are real estate, financial technologies, IT, food industry, etc, RTV reports.
