Turkey wants to invest in Serbia

BELGRADE - Turkish investors are interested in investing in milk production and processing, banking services, the textile industry, agriculture, energy and the construction industry, participants in the sixth Serbian-Turkish business forum, which brought together about 300 companies from the two countries, said in Belgrade Tuesday.

One of the companies willing to invest in Serbia is Beko, which has already established its position in the Serbian market with its major household appliances and TV sets.

Milivoje Miletic, president of the Belgrade Chamber of Commerce, which organized the forum together with the Serbia International Trade Association (SITA), said that there was great potential to increase trade between the two countries, based on the free trade agreement that Serbia and Turkey had signed in January 2010.

There is ample room to improve cooperation, especially in the textile industry, energy, agriculture, infrastructure and construction, said Miletic.

Miletic said that total trade between Serbia and Turkey in the first seven months of the current year had been USD 56 million, with Serbia importing more than exporting.

"We will work to reduce the deficit in the coming period," he said.

The value of Turkish investments in Serbia is around EUR 95 million, Miletic said, pointing to investments in the brewing industry in the cities of Zajecar and Pancevo by Efes Beverage Group.

Omer Simsek, SITA management board chair, said that Serbia and Turkey had a common history and a neighborly relationship, a reason why economic cooperation between them should be deepened and broadened.

Now is a good time for Turkish investors to start doing business here as Serbia has begun EU...