(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 25. The official
visit of President Ilham Aliyev to Serbia, after 11 years,
represents a historic moment in our bilateral relations which will
give a new impetus to our hitherto cooperation in several ways,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of
Serbia to the Republic of Azerbaijan Dragan Vladisavljević said in
an exclusive interview with Trend Nov.25.
“As you already know, since 2013, the relations between the two
countries have been developing within the framework of a strategic
partnership, with full understanding and observance of our mutual
interests. During this visit, we have additionally expanded the
legal basis for this partnership, with seven new bilateral
documents, but also laid foundation for more practical aspects of
our cooperation in the form of the Strategic Partnership Council,
co-chaired by two heads of state,” he said.
The ambassador pointed out that the visit has also served to
discuss on the highest level the most important issues of mutual
interests, such as political cooperation, mutual support in
international arena, energy, agriculture and their practical
implementation.
“Finally, the fact that Serbian President already announced his
working visit to Baku in December, speaks volumes about the effects
of President Aliyev's stay in Belgrade,” added Vladisavljević.
Promising areas of economic cooperation
He noted that in terms of economic cooperation, there are
various spheres which have enormous, yet unused, potential.
“First and foremost is, of course, energy, in the context of
Serbia's endeavors to ensure its energy security and continue
energy transition process. With that aim, we have already initiated
some concrete talks about purchase of Azerbaijani gas and
electricity, which are now gaining momentum. Agriculture is another
field which offers plenty of possibilities for cooperation,
particularly in terms of exporting some of Serbian agricultural
products to Azerbaijan. As far as construction is concerned, our
cooperation is already on a very high level, given an extremely
successful engagement of Azerbaijani AzVirt in civil
engineering projects in Serbia. At the same time, the process of
reconstruction and revitalization of Azerbaijani liberated lands
provides an opportunity for an engagement of Serbian companies in
various areas – construction, smart technologies, ICT etc. Given
the chance, Serbian companies will do their utmost to live up to
the expectations and trust vested in them,” said
Vladisavljević.
“Of course, we must not forget international transport, as
another very topical issue these days. As a regional transportation
hub, Azerbaijan has great potential in this field, whereas Serbia
has great interest in using this transport infrastructure as part
of its shortest route towards eastern Asian markets.”
Finally, the ambassador said there's tourism, as one of very
promising, but slightly disregarded spheres of cooperation.
“Our countries already have a very solid legal basis for joint
activities in tourist sector and an important prerequisite in terms
of visa free regime. However, both countries should invest
additional efforts to promote its tourist potentials to the
citizens of the other side, with a special focus on young
population.
Unfortunately, the modest trade turnover between our countries
does not reflect the high level of our political and cultural
relations, even though we have the necessary legal base, the
potential and, most important, clear support of our leaders. This
obliges both sides to work much harder to unlock this potential,
not only in terms of trade in gas, electricity or agricultural
products, but also with the active work of our Joint
Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation,
cooperation between our free economic zones and more frequent
business forums and direct contacts between the representatives of
our countries' private sectors. I am certain that our joint
efforts, supported by our firm friendship and excellent political
relations, will soon yield great results,” added
Vladisavljević.
Serbia's joining the Southern Gas Corridor
The envoy pointed out that the importance of the Southern Gas
Corridor for European energy security is widely recognized and is
growing rapidly, given the current global energy crisis.
“As part of its regional connectivity policy, Serbia started
construction of a gas interconnector with Bulgaria on February 1,
2022. The pipeline, which is to be completed by the end of 2023,
will allow our country to connect to the Southern Gas Corridor via
Bulgaria and Greece, enable the much-needed diversification of
energy suppliers and energy security of Serbia. For that reason,
our two countries are involved in active discussions on potential
purchase of Azerbaijani gas in the coming years.”
Prospects in clean energy
He noted that even though Serbia is in a process of energy
transition, clean energy and renewables are not widely used in his
country, due to the lack of adequate infrastructure.
“Azerbaijan, on the other hand, has enormous potential in
renewables and is working actively on building the necessary
infrastructure for their exploitation, especially in terms of
production and export of green electricity, which is where we see
the possibility for cooperation. As our President Vucic announced
during his meetings with President Aliyev, Serbia is interested in
joining Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania Black Sea Submarine Cable
Project and connecting with Romanian and Hungarian power grids, so
that, in the future, it could provide electricity from Azerbaijani
sources as well,” Vladisavljević explained.
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