"Higher growth allows for capital investments"

Vucic recalled that it is now difficult to get investments from Turkey because of the high inflation rate and the minimum wage of 210 euros in that country - much lower than in Serbia. "Why should somebody come to us from Turkey, when they can pay their workers less in their own country, and find as well-trained a workforce as we have. For that reason we must fight to attract investors from all over the world," he said.

Speaking in Astana, Kazakhstan, Vucic emphasized the importance of attracting investments from all over the world.

In a statement to reporters, the president said foreign investors "know well how to read IMF an World Bank reports, as do Kazakh businesspeople."

"According to the Doing Business list, Kazakhstan is several places ahead of us, primarily because of they are best at protecting minority shareholders. And we have to learn from them," he added.

Vucic said that economic growth allows "a slight increase in salaries and pensions, and capital investments."

"The Preljina-Pojate road alone will cost us a realistic 800 million euros. The Pozega-Cacak road costs 400 million euros. When you see that, then you realize how important it for the growth to be higher, because you will have more projects that mean life. In order to achieve that growth you must have more spending, exports and investments," the president said.

Vucic stressed that "more investments require biggest incentives."

According to him, those countries which base growth on consumption, via large increases in wages in the public sector, face growth decline.

"With us it's the other way round. These are excellent trends and people in Serbia can certainly understand that. Serbia is essentially on the right...