Serbia, Norway to improve political, economic cooperation

Foreign ministers of Serbia and Norway are to look into greater investment in Serbia, visiting Norway's foreign minister Borge Brende said here Tuesday.

"We have seen a lot of Norwegian investments in Serbia in the past years, and we will look into this topic more this spring when (Ivica) Dacic goes to Oslo for an official visit," Brende told a press conference.

He noted that the region of the Western Balkans was still fragile but praised Serbia's desire to contribute to stability as well as the country's dedication to its EU integration process, which he said was positive for attracting more investors.

Serbian foreign minister Ivica Dacic said: "Norway is one of Serbia's biggest bilateral donors with more than 250 million euros (266 million U.S. dollars) donated in the past 10 years for political reforms, recovery after floods, migrant crisis, and other purposes."

He noted that during the past year, the overall trade exchange between the two countries amounted to around 60 million euros and urged for this to increase.

"Norway is interested in investment, while we are interested in their experiences. We informed our guest about our strategic goals: to become a member of the EU, a source of stability in the region, as well as to settle all open issues with other countries through dialogue," Dacic said. Endit