Yorkshire has a real chance to build food and drink trade links with Serbia, according to an embassy official who spoke to farmers at the Great Yorkshire Show.
Dr Ognjen Pribicevic, an ambassador from the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia, was hosted at the show on its final day by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and the British government’s Yorkshire arm of UK Trade and Investment.
The diplomat said that the comparative population sizes of his country and of Yorkshire made the county an attractive trade target – both for imports and exports – with the region’s cheese a real draw for his country.
Dr Pribicevic said: “Serbia is a very open country to receive goods and export goods. In the last couple of years we have had so many investors, from the Middle East, China, India, from European countries and we would be more than happy to expand our trade with the UK. That is the main reason why I am here in this wonderful place in Yorkshire for this fair to see what we can trade since in Serbia we are so eager to have your products, for example cheese and biscuits.”
The next step towards turning talks into deals comes in September, Dr Pribicevic said.
“There will be a group of probably 20 businesses from Yorkshire who will be travelling to Belgrade to see what they can see but also what they can buy. This is only one group among a couple of business groups who will go, not only from Yorkshire but from other regions of the UK, to Serbia, and I hope that the next year at this fair there will again be a delegation of Serbian companies.
“On both sides there is really great potential to expand our business.”
Dr Pribicevic added that Serbia had much to offer in return, from its fertile lands that he said can be considered among the best in Europe. He said Serbia was keen to build on its export trade for corn, meat and especially its berries.
