Trade between Serbia and Poland improves constantly

BELGRADE - The economic relations between Serbia and Poland have been developing well in the past 10 years, as trade has gone up from EUR 115 million in 2003 to EUR 937 million in 2013, Serbia's State Secretary for Trade Stevan Nikcevic said at the Serbia-Poland Business Forum held at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce.

Poland is SErbia's 8th biggest trade partner and 5th among the EU countries and it is necessary to balance this trade out, mostly by increasing Serbia's export, which is far behind import, Nikcevic stated opening the forum.

Serbia's trade deficit when Poland is concerned was EUR 527 million in 2013, while export-import coverage was only 28 percent, the state secretary noted.

Export from Serbia went up by 15.6 percent this year and stands at EUR 112 million, but import also increased, by 18.7 percent, and reached EUR 397 million, said Nikcevic, who is also the co-president of the intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation between Serbia and Poland.

Acting President of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce Milivoje Miletic pointed out that the total Polish investments in Serbia were at EUR 40 million, and that 11 Polish companies operated in Serbia, adding that they belonged to the aotomotive, construction, energy, chemical and IT industries.

The economic relations with Poland develop as part of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU, which Serbia used to create a predictable system of trade relations related to business operations and investments.

The economies of Serbia and Poland should focus their cooperation on particular industries in the future, with cooperation between the two countries' chambers of commerce playing an important part in that, Miletic stressed...