Begovic meets with UAE officials in New York

NEW YORK - On the first day of a visit to the US, Serbian Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation Jelena Begovic met with UAE Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Knowledge Exchange Abdulla Nasser Lootah and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority Director General Alhur Alsuwaidi in New York on Tuesday.

"There were several very interesting topics related to deepening the already very close and good relations between the UAE and Serbia. One of the topics is also further development in science and investment in infrastructure projects directly or indirectly associated with science as well as the startup ecosystem in Serbia, which is currently booming and needs to develop further, which requires stronger government support," Begovic said.

She said potential investments in a national project to build a BIO4 campus and in private sector presence at the campus had also been discussed.

"We also raised the issue of potential involvement of such funds in creating entrepreneurial capital in Serbia, which has now been introduced and which is organised by the government to help startup companies that are in advanced stages of development," Begovic said.

Besides science, the meeting also addressed tourism, which is very interesting to the UAE and they are ready to invest in certain tourism-related infrastructure as Serbia has natural beauties and large potential when it comes to wineries, food and beverages, she said.

"Mineral waters that Serbia has are the third sector, and it should develop further, and they showed great interest in that," Begovic said.

She said they had also discussed Serbia's hosting of EXPO 2027, and noted that it required major infrastructure investments such as hotels and other facilities that needed to be built to meet the needs of participants and guests.