Nikolic: Economic ties must be on par with political ones

TUNIS - There are no open issues between Serbia and Tunisia, but efforts must be made to ensure that the economic cooperation of the two countries is on par with their excellent political relations, which is now not the case, Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said on Wednesday.

After a meeting with Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, Nikolic told reporters that an agreement was reached for the two countries to embark on a more concrete political dialogue and strengthen the friendly ties between their two peoples by boosting economic cooperation.

"We can call this visit a historic one, because it marks the end of a period of absence of political dialogue at the highest level despite the fact that there are no open issues between the two countries and that there is no reason for us not to have more intense cooperation in many segments", Nikolic said.

The two countries have a history of friendship that spans over half a century, and these ties were established in the era of the Non-Aligned Movement and strengthened by the recognition of Tunisia shortly after its declaration of independence in 1956, Nikolic said.

He added that many bilateral and inter-state matters were discussed at Wednesday's meeting and that a conclusion was made that dialogue has been improved significantly at all levels.

Nikolic stressed that Serbia is particularly grateful for Tunisia's principled stance regarding the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo-Metohija, adding that he expects that Tunisia will stand by its position.

However, Nikolic noted that economic cooperation is not on par with the excellent political relations.

"In 2013, bilateral trade amounted to only USD 39 million, accounting for just 0.1...