Milan Kovacevic

Serbia's National Council for Cooperation with Russia and China and the Chinese ambassador in Belgrade, Li Manchang, have pledged to support the establishment of a Chinese-Serbian association of companies.

However, many experts doubt that Serbia stands to gain much from it, unless the country greatly increases its volume of exports.

President Aleksandar Vucic's recent proposal for an 'internal dialogue' about the status of Serbia's former province of Kosovo is the latest of several initiatives to open up public discussion and reach consensus on major social and political issues, although none of them has ended in success so far, political analysts insist.

A Belgrade economist has welcomed the call by Safet Gërxhaliu, President of Kosovo's Chamber of Commerce, for Serbian investors to develop businesses in Kosovo.

During his recent visit to Serbia, Gërxhaliu advised Serbian companies to start thinking about opening workplaces in Kosovo where members of the different ethnic groups can work together.

Officials have raised hopes that Serbia could earn hundreds millions of euros a year if a new mine opens to exploit jadarite deposits in the west of the country, but experts told BIRN that careful planning is needed to maximise the financial benefits.

Belgrade mayor Sinisa Mali said on Wednesday that the free economic zone was crucial for the future of the capital as Belgrade has already "lost a lot of investments and new jobs because it could not offer such a zone for investors".