Serbia attracted a record €5.1 billion in foreign direct investments in 2024, of which 37.2% came from European Union countries and 34% from Asian countries, with China emerging as the top investor, said Jagoda Lazarević, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Economic Diplomacy, yesterday.
She highlighted that these figures show Asian partners are becoming increasingly important to Serbia, aligning with the trend of diversification.
“Serbia is committed to developing economic cooperation with the EU, which remains by far the most significant economic partner in all sectors. However, due to the geopolitical and geoeconomic turbulence impacting individual economies, we must seek a safe harbour and explore alternative markets,” Lazarević stated in an interview with RTS.
She noted that trade with China has been increasing, with the total trade volume in the first 11 months of 2024 surpassing the level for the entire year of 2023.
“Our export levels in these 11 months have exceeded those of the record-breaking year 2023,” she added.
Structurally, she explained, copper ores and concentrates dominate exports.
“Our goal is to diversify exports and include many more products that can find a market in China,” emphasised Lazarević.
In 2024, China became Serbia’s leading foreign investor, cumulatively calculated from 2010 through the third quarter of 2024.
“China has overtaken the Netherlands, which had held an uncontested first place as the leading foreign investor for years. However, it should be noted that even Dutch investments are often multinational companies registering subsidiaries in the Netherlands before investing in Serbia,” Lazarević explained. She also mentioned positive trends in cooperation with Japan and South Korea.
“What these three countries have in common is that the automotive industry has been the leading sector, employing around 45,000 workers in Serbia,” she added.
Lazarević stated that significant progress is being made toward concluding a free trade agreement with South Korea, which will differ from the China-Serbia agreement that came into force on 1 July last year.
“This agreement will be broader in scope, including a wide range of services, such as financial and digital ones, which we already have in some free trade agreements but not all,” she pointed out.
She acknowledged that this is a highly complex area and challenging to negotiate.
“Negotiation teams are in intensive communication, and we expect the Korean side to present a draft free trade agreement. Although we were ready to start negotiations earlier, their internal procedures are longer,” Lazarević stated.
She added that South Korea has been informed of Serbia’s interest in receiving their proposal by the end of March or early April, with the first round of negotiations scheduled to take place in Seoul.
Jagoda Lazarević, who has been proposed as the new Minister of Foreign and Domestic Trade following the resignation of Tomislav Momirović, said that upon assuming the role, she plans to continue the activities she pursued as Assistant Minister for Economic Diplomacy.
“The focus will be on key and emerging markets, which includes trade, attracting new investments, and carefully negotiating new agreements where we believe our national economic interests are at stake,” Lazarević emphasized.
(Telegraf, 09.01.2025)
https://biznis.telegraf.rs/info-biz/4034050-lazarevic-srbija-privukla-rekordnih-51-milijardi-evra-u-2024-prednjaci-kineski-kapital
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Publish date : 2025-01-09 01:57:00
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