Minister of Economy and Regional Development Nebojsa Ciric said in an interview for a business magazine “Cord” that Serbia is interested in improving economic cooperation with the United States, primarily in the investment sector.
Ciric said that the United States is a very important economic partner of Serbia, listing the US companies such as Philip Morris, U.S. Steel, Coca-Cola, Ball Corporation that are successfully operating in Serbia.
He recalled that in the last 10 years, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), approximately $ 800 million was invested in various projects in Serbia, which has improved the living standards of our country.
Despite these positive results, the economic cooperation between the two countries has not reached its full potential and comparative advantages, he said.
He recalled that the economic relations between Serbia and the United States were established at the time of the Principality of Serbia when in 1881 the two countries signed an agreement on trade and shipping, which is still in force.
He said that Serbia in the period between 2005 and 2010 had the status of the general system of preferences (GSP), which enabled it to export duty-free more than 4800 products.
Ciric said that the status of the GSP was a major topic of discussion during the official visit of the Serbian delegation, headed by Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic to Washington in mid-April.
Serbia in 2010 exported goods worth $68 million in the United States, while the value of US imports was $ 311 million.
The minister said that US investment in Serbia in the period from 2000 to 2010 reached $228 million, which puts the country at the 15th place among the largest foreign investors in our country.
(Government of Serbia)
