President Erdoğan: Serbia is key to peace and stability in the Balkans

 

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered a speech at Turkey-Serbia Business Forum in Belgrade.

“We have had strong friendship ties with Serbia for centuries. We have many common words in Turkish and Serbian. We have poems and folk songs describing this beautiful geography, Balkans,” President Erdoğan said.

“Serbia is a friendly country for us and it is key to peace and stability in the Balkans,” President Erdoğan underlined.

Underscoring that Turkey and Serbia share a strong will to advance bilateral relations in all areas, President Erdoğan said that Turkey wants to deepen and diversify its relations with Serbia.

$5-BILLION BILATERAL TRADE GOAL

Noting that the bilateral trade volume between Turkey and Serbia was $1.2 billion in 2018, President Erdoğan stated that their short-term goal was to increase it to $2 billion and then to $5 billion.

Highlighting the great opportunities Serbia offers to Turkish investors with its strategic location in the heart of the Balkans, its business environment, qualified workforce and incentives, President Erdoğan said: “Both our bilateral trade and investments with Serbia are booming. Through our investments in Serbia, we provide jobs to nearly 8 thousand people. Our companies have made investments in various industries such as textile, automotive supplier industry, machinery, banking and tourism.”

Stating that investments in Serbia by Turkish businessmen have reached $200 million in 2018, President Erdoğan pointed to the construction industry as another significant area to boost cooperation.

“In 2018, the number of Serbian tourists visiting Turkey has broken a record by a 53 percent rise. We hosted 225 thousand Serbian tourists. Over 97 thousand tourists from Turkey visited to Serbia,” President Erdoğan said. “Tourism is another area where Turkey and Serbia can improve its relations.”