After a long period of distant, often frosty relations, Turkey and Serbia appear to be finally warming to each other. But will the Serbian people put aside historic grievances dating back to the Ottoman Empire and welcome Ankara’s Balkan renaissance? “We need jobs, so if the Turks are going to create new jobs, they are welcome. I believe that what was happening here more than 100 years ago won’t be an obstacle for Turkish investment in Serbia, because… we are living in a new age now,” says Aleksandra Mitic, a 20-year-old student in Belgrade. Her views are, by and large, typical of the younger generation of Serbs, who appear less concerned with Turkey’s historical baggage as one time Ottoman occupiers of Serbia. Most simply see Turkish investment as good for the Serbian economy and jobs market.
And the Serbian political leadership agrees. In fact, economic cooperation between the two former foes is now well under way. Srdjan Stevic, a civil servant in Serbia’s economy and regional development ministry, says the volume of trade between Serbia and Turkey reached 180m euro in the first eight months of 2010 alone. That figure represents a 110% increase on figures for all of 2009. Belgrade wants to bring the volume of trade between the two countries to about 365m euro in near future, according to a paper published recently by the Serbian parliamentary Joint Committee for Serb-Turk Economic Cooperation. By comparison, Serbia currently has the highest volume of trade with Germany, valued at 2.1bn euro in 2009.
Srdjan Janicijevic, director of the Economic Institute in Belgrade, says that economic cooperation with Turkey is vital because Serbia has been in trade deficit with Turkey to date and Turkish investment in Serbia is still very modest. “Strengthening of economic cooperation is in the interest of both Serbia and Turkey because, among other things, the agreements that two countries have signed will make it possible for jointly producing and selling goods to third markets," he says. Just this summer, Ankara and Belgrade signed an agreement that will allow three major Turkish construction companies – Kolin, Makwol and Juksel – to build part of the planned 445km highway that will link Belgrade to Bar, a city on the coast of neighbouring Montenegro. As part of the deal, the Turkish companies are obliged to ensure 45% of their subcontractors are Serbian construction firms. This contract marks the first large investment in Serbia.
This is just the start. Turkish investors are eyeing a range of projects – including other infrastructure contracts and potential deals involving factories, supermarkets, leisure, energy and the rebuilding of airports. Turkish Airlines is also bidding for the Serbian national carrier, JAT Airways, which is saddled with almost 150m euro of debt and an ageing fleet of aircraft. Negotiations between the two airlines are expected to be finalised by early 2011. While JAT has become a costly liability for the Serb government, Turkish Airlines is keen to expand it routes across the Balkans. Ankara and Belgrade signed a free trade accord – which came into effect in September this year – opening Serb markets to Turkish investors. The two countries are in the process of allowing visa-free travel for their nationals.
Sulejman Ugljanin, the Serbian minister who is responsible for Serbia-Turkey bilateral relations, backed visa liberalisation during a parliamentary debate in October this year, saying it would enable greater investment in Serbia. “We should enable businessmen to invest here and employ young people. We have an obligation to enable our future strategic partners to come to Serbia without waiting at the airport.”
News source: BalkanInsight link: article
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