Serbia, Saudi Arabia to set up business council

BELGRADE - Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (PKS) President Marko Cadez and Council of Saudi Chambers Chairperson Hasan Al-Huwaizi signed on Monday an agreement on setting up a Serbian-Saudi Business Council to boost bilateral economic cooperation.

"There is great interest among Serbian companies in cooperation with partners from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. For that reason, the PKS will initiate the opening of a PKS representative office and a Western Balkans chamber in Saudi Arabia and, as early as in the coming period, we will also host B2B meetings between Saudi businesspeople and businesspeople from Serbia and the region," Cadez announced.

A period of intensive cooperation is ahead of the economies of the two countries, Cadez said, adding that, with support from the PKS and the Serbian Development Agency, Serbian companies would be exhibiting at the Saudi Food Show in June.

He said the Business Council would hold its first session in the weeks to come to review opportunities for investing and joint projects, in particular when it comes to the agricultural sector and investments in Serbia's livestock fund, the ICT sector and spa and health tourism, the PKS said in a statement.

"We want to open up the Saudi Arabia market to companies from Serbia and the region and we want our companies to invest in construction of logistic hubs in the country and to boost exports of our products, and we also want businesspeople from that country to come here and invest in development of our agriculture and in spa tourism," Cadez said.

Al-Huwaizi noted that the good and friendly bilateral relations needed to be advanced further in economic terms as well, and invited Serbian businesspeople to visit his country to familiarise themselves with opportunities for cooperation.

"In recent years, we have seen major activity by the Serbian chamber of commerce and Republic of Serbia officials that was aimed at advancement of bilateral relations. However, the volume of external trade does not reflect the actual possibilities and capacities that the two countries have," he said.

According to figures from the Serbian national statistical office, Serbia's bilateral trade with Saudi Arabia totalled 117.2 mln dollars last year.