New Era of Economic Ties between Serbia and India

The visit of Indian President Draupadi Murma to Serbia, the first in five decades, a Business Forum that brought together more than 150 Serbian and Indian businessmen in Belgrade and bilateral talks, as well as the open support of the leaders of the two countries for stronger economic cooperation, open a new era of Indian-Serbian economic ties. This visit, apart from political and historic significance bears also great economic importance, and our companies can be reliable partners to Indian companies and investors, Marko Čadež, the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia, pointed out.

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the President of India Murmu say that partnerships will be even stronger and more intense and that the economy can count on strong support.

It is a great honor and pleasure to welcome you to the Serbian-Indian Business Forum, this is a historic visit, more than 50 years have passed since the last one, and it is not only historically and politically important but also economically important," said Čadež at the opening of the Business Forum in the Palace of Serbia. Participants of the forum said that there is a great potential for cooperation in the field of IT, processing, food, defense, pharmaceutical, and creative industries, as well as in tourism and innovation.

"The previous cooperation was marked by modest trade, successful, but not so numerous investments by Indian companies, and it seems to me that this is the beginning of a new era and good economic cooperation between India and Serbia," the president of the CCIS pointed out. He said that the wish of the domestic economy is for more Serbian goods to be on the Indian market. "To attract investments in our processing industry, to connect our IT sector with Indian scientific and technological companies, to learn from valuable Indian experiences, to connect our innovations, scientists, faculties and to put them in the function of efficient business", added Čadež.

The goal, according to the president of CCIS, is to attract a larger number of tourists from India, and our capital already stands out as a place where more than 40 projects from the Indian film industry have been made."Belgrade is a place where a lot of Indian films are filmed, 40 projects have been done here and indeed until now, all the big Indian movie stars have worked and visited Belgrade where many scenes were shot," added Čadež.

He said that local companies are worthy partners to the biggest multinational companies and that Serbia, not without reason, attracts a large number of investors. "Indian companies expect a good environment, incentives, top engineers, young workers, new generations who are educated according to a new system that is more and more suitable for new generations of companies and the demands of the economy," said Čadež at the end of his speech.

Vučić: The Visit of the Indian President is a Great Privilege

President Vučić emphasized that the visit of the Indian president was a great privilege and an opportunity to improve and strengthen the economic ties between the two countries, as well as that it was very important to establish as close cooperation as possible with the currently fastest-growing world economy. He reminded that the Indian economy has strengthened thanks to the IT sector, digitalization, innovation, reforms, investments in social infrastructure, the recovery of the industrial sector, and a strong service sector.

"We see the benefit in strengthening the huge partnership with you, Vučić told the Indian businessmen," adding that it is of crucial importance to further improve cooperation in the pharmaceutical industry because generic drugs from India and traditional Indian medicine will be more and more present in the entire European continent.

The Exchange Can Quickly Reach a Billion Euros

The President of Serbia stated that the trade exchange with India could very quickly reach one billion euros and that it currently amounted to 327 million euros. What is important is that the two countries work on developing tourism and that as many Indians as possible visit  Serbia. This is why the work in the future will be focused on simplifying the visa regime and introducing a direct flight.

Murmu: Serbia is the First European Country I Visited

The President of India stated that she was delighted that Serbia was the first European country she visited since becoming the President of India in July last year."President Vučić, I would like to cooperate with Serbia when it comes to the IT sector, healthcare, energy, agriculture... Serbia is a traditional friend of India, therefore, we are very interested in cooperating with Serbia. We want to work further, and we discussed direct flights between Belgrade and New Delhi. Frequent visits will strengthen our partnership in the best way," said Murmu.

Soni: We Have Strong Ties and Friendships with Serbia

The leader of the economic delegation of India, Sanjay Soni, says that Serbia, by strengthening its capacities, can be a reliable partner for India. "The Indian economy is growing rapidly. We have strong economic ties with numerous nations. We have strong ties and friendships with Serbia," said Soni. As he pointed out, he was glad to see the potentials that are expanding - in the fields of defense, engineering, and the pharmaceutical industry, among others. According to his words, this visit should further strengthen the cooperation between the people of the two countries and enable further growth for future generations.