Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stated that only a few countries in Europe have managed to achieve such results as Georgia, which commands respect.
According to him, Georgia has been demonstrating “amazing results” since 2012, including in the area of economic development. Vucic emphasized that it is recognized in Europe that such growth rates would also be desirable for Western European countries.
“Some believe this should have happened on its own, but we do not think so. In Serbia, we know that in the first quarter, Georgia’s economic growth was 9.3%. We understand that there are no such indicators in Europe, and we are also proud of your results. When our first-quarter results are finalized, we will see our own figures, but it is already clear how strong the dynamics of Georgia’s development are.
If Western Europe had such economic growth rates, it would be amazing. I am proud of what is happening in Georgia. We are learning a lot from you. Growth in the construction sector reached 12%—this is also an outstanding figure, as is the high growth in tourism. We see what we can learn from you and what we need to work on in Serbia to get closer to your indicators,” said the leader of the EU member state.
The Serbian leader stated that Georgia and Serbia will sign a free trade agreement in the near future.
“In the first quarter, bilateral trade grew by 36.4%. The service and tourism sectors are developing, facilitated by the availability of direct flights. I would like to see more Georgian tourists coming to Serbia. Visiting Tbilisi is a great pleasure.
We have almost completed negotiations and will soon be able to sign a free trade agreement. This will be an important milestone in our relations and will accelerate the development of economic cooperation.
We also discussed opening a Serbian embassy in Georgia, and we hope for a similar decision to open a Georgian embassy in Serbia. This will strengthen our relations.
Human-to-human connections are also very strong—in tourism, people-to-people contacts, and other areas. It was a surprise for me to learn about the development of ski tourism in Georgia—your resorts are comparable to European ones. People really enjoy coming to Georgia for various reasons,” Vucic said.
