Vesic: Business forum opportunity to boost economic ties with Spain

BELGRADE - The good political ties between Serbia and Spain should be accompanied by better economic cooperation, and a business forum with Spanish companies is an opportunity for that, Serbian Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Goran Vesic said on Monday.

In an address at the opening of Western Balkans-Spain Multilateral Opportunities Days, Vesic said the multisectoral forum was a follow-up to a November 2022 business forum that addressed ways of establish closer bilateral economic ties.

The forum was organised by the Spanish exports and investment agency ICEX and the commercial department of the Spanish embassy in Belgrade.

"Spain is a country that is friendly to Serbia, it is one of the five EU member states that do not recongise the self-declared independence of Kosovo, and we are obliged to boost our good political relations also through economic relations and ensure there are more Spanish companies in our market," Vesic said in a statement to Tanjug.

Even though EU member states have invested a total 17 bln euros in Serbia, the number of Spanish companies involved is small and Serbia has not been an interesting enough market to them, he said.

"Our job is to try to change that. Infrastructure projects to be carried out in Serbia will be presented here today, and we will invite Spanish companies to participate in them. The first such project will be a 2.7 bln euro tender to build a Belgrade-Nis rail line, which will be divided into three tenders," Vesic said.

"It is important for us to identify new infrastructure projects that could be financed through international loans or EU support. Railway will be our most significant sector - first, a section from Belgrade to Nis and then also a section to Presevo," Vesic said.

He added that environmental protection and the energy sector would also be major topics at the forum.

"This is also an opportunity for Serbia to see what opportunities there are for obtaining grants from the Kingdom of Spain for preparation of documentation, studies and sectoral analyses that can help us to carry out the tenders," Vesic said.