Serbia and Slovenia sign four new agreements – Joint session of two governments held

Representatives of the governments of Serbia and Slovenia signed four agreements on cooperation today, following the 4th joint session of the two countries' governments, headed by prime ministers Ana Brnabic and Miro Cerar, held in the Brdo Castle near Kranj, the website of the Government of Serbia announces.

Serbian Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy Zoran Djordjevic and Slovenian Minister of Labor, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Anja Kopac Mrak signed the Agreement on Employment of Serbian Citizens in Slovenia and the Memorandum on Cooperation in Workplace Safety and Protection.

Serbian Minister of Culture and Information Vladan Vukosavljevic and Slovenian Minister of Culture Anton Persak signed the Letter of Intent on Cooperation of Slovenia and Serbia in the Film Industry.

The Plan of Working Consultations between the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Slovenia was signed by the state secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Veljko Odalovic, and Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Karl Erjavec, it is reported on the Government of Serbia's website.

Support to Serbia's European efforts

Following the joint session of the two governments, Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said that Serbia and Slovenia had great political and economic relations, characterized by great friendship, and expressed gratitude to Slovenia for its support to Serbia on its path to Europe.

As the website of the Government of Serbia reports, Cerar emphasized that Serbia and Slovenia were two friendly states, which developed mutual relations through joint sessions to the benefit of their economies and citizens, and added that Slovenia would continue its intensive and strong support to Serbia's European perspective.

Slovenia currently does so in two ways – by providing support in European institutions and through technical help. Since September 2015, Slovenia has been providing Serbia with full help in the fields related to the negotiations with the EU, the Slovenian prime minister said.

Serbian investments in Slovenia growing stronger

Cerar also said that Serbia was among the most important foreign partners of Slovenia and an important destination for Slovenian investments.

As he said, there are over 1,500 companies operating in Serbia fully or partially owned by Slovenians, employing 25,000 workers.

According to him, Serbia is the second most important investment destination for Slovenia and Slovenian investments in Serbia have exceeded the amount of one billion euros, and Serbian investments in Slovenia are growing stronger as well.

– We've proven this once again today, with the signing of important agreements between the two states and a very constructive discussion at the governments' session, with the focus on economic cooperation – Cerar said.

Serbia and Slovenia have achieved progress in all fields, he underlined and noted that the bilateral relations were excellent and that the merchandise trade in 2017 had reached a 10-year peak, it is added on the government's website.

Despite that, he pointed out, there are open possibilities for the strengthening of economic relations in the fields of environmental protection, infrastructure, energy, digitalization and electrical and metal industry.

Furthermore, it important for a constructive agreement on joint ventures in third markets to be reached, Cerar said.

This afternoon, Brnabic and Cerar will participate in the Slovenia-Serbia Business Forum at the Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia in Ljubljana, in which 115 representatives of the Serbian economy will also take part.

Vlada Republike Srbije

Vlada Republike Slovenije

Ministarstvo za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna pitanja Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo kulture Republike Srbije

Ministarstvo spoljnih poslova Republike Srbije

Ministry of Labor Family Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities of Slovenia

Agreement on Employment of Serbian Citizens in Slovenia

Memorandum on Cooperation in Workplace Safety and Protection

Ministry of Culture of Slovenia

Letter of Intent on Cooperation of Slovenia and Serbia in the Film Industry

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia

Ana Brnabic

Miro Cerar

Zoran Djordjevic

Anja Kopac Mrak

Vladan Vuksanovic

Anton Persak

Veljko Odalovic

Karl Erjavec

cooperation of Slovenia and Serbia

joint session of the governments of Serbia and Slovenia

trade between Serbia and Slovenia

Slovenian investments in Serbia

investments of Serbia in Slovenia