Turkey and Serbia agree to boost bilateral trade and investment

On the second day of his official visit to Belgrade, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic and the President of the National Assembly of Serbia Maja Gojkovic.

Erdogan and Vucic held talks on bilateral issues and signed a variety of agreements, including one to establish a High Council for Cooperation between the two countries.

As part of his visit, Erdogan will visited the Damad Ali Pasha Tomb in Belgrade Fortress, an Ottoman structure which is undergoing renovation by a Turkish development agency.

He also visited the Sokullu Mehmet Pasha Fountain, another Ottoman-era structure in Belgrade, before heading to Novi Pazar on Wednesday.

Bilateral projects and agreements

In a joint press conference with Vucic, Erdogan expressed confidence that trade between Turkey and Serbia would reach $1 billion by the end of the year.

A review of a bilateral free trade agreement was signed by Turkish Economy Minister Nihat Zeybekci and Minister of Foreign Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications of Serbia, Rasim Ljajic.

Twelve other agreements as well as a joint political declaration on the establishment of the High Council for Cooperation between Serbia and Turkey were also signed by the two presidents.

Speaking about the future cooperation, Erdogan said Turkish businesspeople would play an important role in Serbia's future.

"We have completed our bilateral and inter-delegation meetings very efficiently. Later on, we will meet with businesspeople and we will be able to address them together."

"We will encourage these businesspeople to invest in Serbia. The investments that they will make here will have a very important place in the development of Serbia,” Erdogan told reporters in Belgrade.

Speaking ahead of a planned visit by the Turkish leader to the Muslim-majority city of Novi Pazar on Wednesday, Vucic said: "We are not in 1389, as some think. Now that we are in the year 2017, we want to have the best possible relations with Turkey and build them.

“It is important for us to ensure peace, stability and good relations between the Serbian and Bosnian people, and we will see it tomorrow, not only from the Bosnians, but also the Serbs, who will also greet Erdogan.”