Prime Minister Ana Brnabić said in Seoul, after signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the representatives of the South Korean conglomerate “SK Group”, that Serbia is ready to bring technologically advanced, capital-intensive investments.
“That company invested in intensive work. Many jobs, with a rather modest investment, 100 million euros, but they employ 9,000 people. Our intention now is to bring technologically advanced, capital-intensive investments,” said Brnabić.
According to the Prime Minister, Serbia has very good references and is ready for capital-intensive investments.
She reminds that in the last five or six years, companies like NCR and Microsoft have come, that Serbia also has a research and development center and that, thanks to talented and creative people, new products and technologies are developed there.
“Very good news is the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with the second largest Korean conglomerate. The first is ‘Samsung’, the second is ‘SK Group’. It concerns the possible investment of their part that deals with biotechnologies in Serbia,” specified Brnabić.
Noting that she does not want to raise expectations, the Prime Minister expressed her hope that “we will reach a final agreement by the end of this year.”
“We will have the first huge capital-intensive investment in Serbia. In the second half of September, the company’s representatives will send a delegation to Serbia for further negotiations. I hope that as a result of the visit we will have not one, but the first big investment, followed by subsequent ones,” she said.
Since KOTRA, the Korean Agency for the Promotion of Trade Investments, opened an office in Belgrade in 2015, trade cooperation between the two countries has advanced significantly, Prime Minister Brnabić points out.
“When you look at 10 years, we have increased the volume of trade almost 50 times. Exports to Korea have jumped more than 100 times. From 2.1 million to 214 million dollars of exports and trade which is 585 million in 2022. If we look at the potentials, it is still extremely low. Our ambition is to go to one billion in the next two or three years, and then much more,” said the Prime Minister of Serbia.
The Prime Minister of Serbia reminded that the Korean exchange with the two largest economies in the world, China and the USA, is huge, and that Seoul, despite the economic strength of Washington and Beijing, is in surplus.
“Of everything they produce, 95 percent is exported. These are the most technologically advanced products. To bring such investments, you have to work, time and commitment. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of time in the first decade of the 2000s, which is why we dropped many investments. If you look, “Korea is the biggest investor in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
“SK Group” does not have a biotechnological center in Europe, and this is where Prime Minister Brnabić sees Serbia’s chance.
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