Serbia to engage its companies in restoration of Azerbaijan's liberated lands

Serbia will engage its construction companies in projects of restoration and reconstruction of liberated territories of Azerbaijan in 2022, Ambassador of Serbia to Azerbaijan Dragan Vladisavljević told Report.

“In addition to economic and trade cooperation, the Serbian side will strive to improve cooperation in the fields of energy, tourism, culture, education and sports. More specifically, it implies continuation and strengthening of cooperation on existing projects in the field of economy and trade, which may be achieved, among others, through the engagement of Serbian construction companies in projects of restoration and reconstruction of liberated territories,” said the ambassador.

“After spending almost a year in Baku, as the highest diplomatic representative of my country, I noticed that there is a great need to raise the awareness of citizens of both countries about the cultural and tourist potentials of the other side. I hope that the activities we plan for this year, both independently and in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Azerbaijan in Belgrade, will help us achieve that goal. I believe that raising awareness, especially of young people, will significantly contribute to the increase of tourist exchange and strengthening friendly ties, not only between our two countries, but also between our peoples,” noted ambassador Vladisavljević, adding that the establishment of a direct flight between the two capitals, which work is currently going on, would certainly give additional impetus to the increase in tourist exchange.

As he said when it comes to culture, the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia, in cooperation with the Serbian Language and Culture Center of the Azerbaijan University of Languages, plans to hold an exhibition dedicated to the life and work of Serbian writer Milorad Pavić, who became well-known in Azerbaijan as well, owing to his novel " Dictionary of the Khazars". The Embassy is also actively working on establishing cooperation between the National Theatre in Belgrade and the Azerbaijan State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre, which might result in more frequent mutual visits of artists and joint projects.

“Let us not forget that this year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, which only gives additional impetus to activities focused on promotion of our friendly relations and common values,” noted the ambassador.

As for 2021, the ambassador added that both countries fought the pandemic during the previous year and the bilateral cooperation was very intensive. As examples he brought the high-level bilateral visits, particularly: the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia to Baku, when the 6th session of the Intergovernmental Commission for Trade and Economic Cooperation was held as well, along with Serbia-Azerbaijan Business Forum; the 60th anniversary of the First Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Belgrade.

In addition, the cooperation was established between the Azerbaijani SOCAR and the Serbian company "Balkan Polymers", and the first amounts of polymers from Azerbaijan have already been delivered to Serbia.