Serbia will soon begin to build a high-speed line between Belgrade and Nis, which will be part of an important rail corridor from Athens to Budapest, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today at a meeting with Greek businessmen.
Vucic said he had already talked with Greek representatives about the need to make a good rail link from the border with Northern Macedonia to Thessaloniki, since Serbia will soon build a high-speed line from Belgrade to Nis, the same as the one that it is already building from Belgrade to the border with Hungary towards Budapest (for trains with speeds of 200 kilometers per hour).
“Then we will build a railway line from Nis to Presevo for trains with speeds of 120 to 160 kilometers per hour. This will create a railway corridor not only for Serbia but also Greece”, Vucic emphasized.
He recalled that large quantities of Chinese and other goods were transported by rail from the Port of Piraeus in Athens to Central and Western Europe.
Vucic also reminded that Serbia has completed the southern and eastern arms of Corridor 10, to northern Macedonia and Bulgaria.
The president of Serbia told Greek businessmen to invest in Serbia and pointed out that many European companies come to our country, especially German ones, which employ 62,000 people.
“We want to work together with you. The doors of the Serbian Government and the Serbian Development Agency are always open to you, but my office as well will always be open if you decide to invest in our country. You can count on our help”, Vucic said.
He stressed that Serbia offers excellent conditions for investment thanks to the state subsidy system that goes up to 50 percent of companies’ investments. “That means 30 percent in money and up to 20 percent in providing infrastructure – electricity, roads, water, gas and more”, he said. Vucic also emphasized that the state in relation to investors is very accurate and that it always fulfills everything that is agreed.
The president pointed out that Serbia attracted 55 percent of all investments in the Western Balkans.
“When we talk about the Western Balkans, we are dominant in attracting foreign direct investment, I mean Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, plus Pristina – they accounted for 45 percent and the rest was us. Also, we had twice as much investment than Bulgaria and twice as much than Croatia, even though both countries are EU members”, Vucic said.
He presented the results of the Serbian economy and stated that Serbia’s economic growth was 4.4 percent last year, and that this year it would be at least 4 or 4.1 percent, although the beginning of the year was not so good in that regard. Vucic emphasized that Serbia will be the first in Europe in the last quarter of this year, and that it was the second in the third quarter with a growth of 3.7 percent, while Hungary was the first with a growth of 3.8 percent.
He said that Serbia has reduced unemployment from 25 percent to 9.9 percent in the previous six years, and that the debt-to-GDP ratio has been reduced from 79 percent to 51 percent.
The president of Serbia said that the state has a budget surplus for the fourth year in a row and that the average salary in January will be around 510 euros, while earlier it was 334 euros.
He added that Serbia and Bulgaria have the lowest taxes, which is also very good for Greek investors. The construction sector is growing by 39 percent this year and that together with industry it will be a big driver of Serbia’s economic growth, Mondo reports.
