Serbia and Israel to form mixed commission for mutual cooperation

Serbia has a great interest when it comes to the development of an all-encompassing cooperation with Israel, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, said at the joint press conference with his Israeli colleague Reuven Rivlin.

Vucic explained that bilateral and economic relations, which are good, had also been discussed at the meeting and said that the trade could increase further. He reminded that numerous Israeli companies operated in Serbia and said that he believed that Serbia was a good place to invest in, RTS reports.

– We want even more companies, a better and more successful cooperation between the two countries and we are convinced that we can now invite Israeli tourists to visit Serbia in even larger numbers and have even more of our tourists visit Israel – Vucic said.

The launch of a mixed committee for cooperation was also agreed. On behalf of Serbia, it will be run by ministers Nenad Popovic and Sinisa Mali.

The president of Serbia expects great results from this mixed commission, related to a safer business environment, and he is convinced that the economic cooperation can be as good as the political cooperation.

Rivlin said that he was very proud of being the first Israeli president in Serbia. He pointed out that Israel was a strong economy and that it had become an expert in various fields, from infrastructure, through agriculture and energy, to cybernetics.

– With success comes responsibility. We are proud of the large number of Israeli investments in Serbia. Our desire is to be a true partner for those who want to make progress together. I would be pleased to see us strengthen our cooperation. We have agreed for a joint economic commission to be formed and for an agreement on the avoidance of double taxation to be signed as soon as possible – Rivlin said.

As Tanjug reports, the potentials of the economic cooperation of the two countries are not even close to being fully utilized, as seen from the 2017 data and a more modest amount of the foreign trade of goods of EUR 59.1 million.

The total export of goods to Israel in the January-December 2017 period amounted to EUR 24.1 million, whereas EUR 35 million worth of goods was imported in the same period, putting the export-import coverage ratio at 68.86%.

In the past years, there have been around fifty Israeli companies operating in Serbia in the sector of production and services, employing over 1,000 people altogether.

According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, the total foreign trade of goods between Serbia and Israel in the January-March 2018 period amounted to EUR 13.6 million, and the total export of goods to Israel in the same period amounted to EUR 5.7 million.

A total of EUR 7.9 million worth of goods was imported, making the export-import coverage ratio 72.15% in the period until March.

From January till December 2017, Serbia mostly exported tobacco cigarettes and other cigarettes (12%), outer pneumatic tires, new passenger car tires (7%), miscellaneous nickel products (7%), cat and dog food (7%) and other products to Israel.

In the same period, it mostly imported unsorted goods (41%), herbicides (6%), non-woven textile, synthetic textile (4%) and other products from Israel.

The Chamber of Commerce of Serbia is also working on the deepening of the economic relations of the two countries in terms of institutions. The CCIS has a cooperation agreement signed with the Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce, Tanjug writes.

economic cooperation of Serbia and Israel

trade between Serbia and Israel

Aleksandar Vucic

mixed committee for cooperation of Serbia and Israel

Nenad Popovic

Sinisa Mali

Ministry of Finance

agreement on avoidance of double taxation between Serbia and Israel

Israeli investments in Serbia

export to Israel

import from Israel

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

Federation of Israeli Chambers of Commerce

agreement on cooperation of chambers of commerce of Serbia and Israel