APS : Wednesday, 18 May 2016
ALGIERS- Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic welcomed Wednesday, in Algiers, the two countries’ willingness to strengthen their bilateral cooperation, underlining that the signing of several agreements is a “firm basis to further strengthen this cooperation.”
“The signing and ratification of 32 Algerian-Serbian agreements as well as the preparation of seven others constitute a firm basis to further strengthen cooperation between the two countries, including trading which currently amounts to $40 million,” said Nikolic in an interview granted to APS, on the occasion of his State visit to Algeria.
Algeria and Serbia, which celebrated in 2012 fifty years of bilateral relations, enjoy “long-standing relations,” he said.
“Serbia, which is the successor and heir to former Yugoslavia in its political activities, has had excellent relations with Algeria since its struggle for independence,” said Nikolic.
Nikolic pointed out that Algeria and Serbia create industrial partnerships to serve their mutual interests.
“Serbia is a country which possesses expertise, notably in advanced technologies. We will certainly strengthen our cooperation in the fields of pharmaceutical industry, agriculture, housing and information and communication technologies (ICTs),” he said.
He called on “the Algerian companies to invest in Serbia to export, afterwards, their products.”
Serbian President said that during his State visit to Algeria, the issue relating to energy, notably gas, was broached.
In this regard, he underlined the risk to see Serbia lacks this raw material, while the country is looking for new suppliers, especially as Algeria delivers its gas to Italy via pipelines.
Algeria’s role in counterterrorism hailed
Serbian President hailed Algeria’s role in its fight against “the world’s biggest scourges,” which is terrorism.
He noted that Algeria, which was for years torn apart, must now secure more than 7,000km of its borders, which requires, he added, “huge” human and financial resources.
For the Serbian head of State, Algeria remains “vigilant” given the situation in the neighbouring countries, adding that “its experience and assistance to other countries are also invaluable.”
“Algeria plays a major role in the fight against terrorism, benefitting from an experience in this field, and continues its work to establish peace in the entire world,” he added.
In a reply to a question on the Non-Aligned Movement, Serbian President said that his country is not a member, but remains an “observer member.”
