The Serbian Chamber of Commerce (SCC) announced that the formation of its representative office in Israel, which was agreed upon in the agreement between Serbia and the United States of America, is in the final phase. According to the latest announcements, it should start working in April.
“We plan to open a representative office of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce in Jerusalem in April, as well as a visit of Serbian businessmen to Israel to get acquainted with innovative Israeli companies from the sector of renewable energy sources, water processing and construction,” said PKS President Marko Cadez.
Cadez met with the Ambassador of Israel to Serbia, Jahel Villan, and the topic of conversation was the improvement of trade cooperation through reaching a trade agreement between Serbia and Israel.
Ambassador Villan said that the first steps in that direction had been taken and welcomed the initiative of the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry to visit a delegation of businessmen from Serbia.
According to the PKS, the total foreign trade exchange between Serbia and Israel last year amounted to 72.2 million euros.
Serbia, as it was emphasized, records an increase of exports by 10% to Israel (38.3 million euros).
Serbia’s imports from Israel in 2020 amounted to 33.9 million euros, which is a decrease of 15%, compared to 2019.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, and the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Abdullah Hoti, signed agreements with the United States in Washington on the normalization of their economic relations on September 4, 2021.
At the same time, Serbia and the United States signed an agreement which agreed on the relocation of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by July 1, 2021, as well as the establishment of a PKS office in Israel.
Kosovo and the United States then also signed an agreement agreeing on mutual recognition of Kosovo and Israel.
Israel established diplomatic relations with Kosovo on February 1, 2021, and Israeli Ambassador to Belgrade Jahel Vilan stated after the signing of the agreement in Washington that his country recognized Kosovo on September 4, 2020.
Serbia’s decision to move the embassy to Jerusalem was opposed by the European Union, because none of its members has an embassy in that city.
A spokesman for the EU representative for foreign policy and security, Peter Stano, once emphasized that the EU’s position on Jerusalem is in line with the 1980 UN Security Council Resolution 478, Nova Ekonomija reports.
