Mali receives Gitex Global president

BELGRADE - Serbian First Deputy PM and Finance Minister Sinisa Mali met on Friday in Belgrade with Trixie LohMirmand, president of Dubai-based Gitex Global, the world's largest technology fair.

With the Gitex 2027 event to be hosted by Belgrade in May 2027, Mali said Serbia would become the technology hub in its part of Europe.

Gitex 2027 will be held at the Belgrade Fair as an EXPO 2027 business conference, bringing together a large number of renowned global innovators and companies.

Mali said the event was strategically important for Serbia and that all relevant institutions would provide full support for preparations and for holding the fair.

He noted that hosting the Gitex event was in line with Serbia's strategic directions in digitalisation, technological development and innovation, an official statement said.

"Gitex Serbia will be the largest-ever international tech event in Serbia and, alongside EXPO, it will contribute to our economic growth through tourism, the hotel industry and the hospitality industry. Besides, it will be an important platform for investments, startup development and the positioning of regional companies, which will contribute further to positioning our country as the tech hub of this part of Europe," Mali said, thanking LohMirmand for Gitex's trust in Serbia.

She congratulated Mali on Serbia's winning bid to host EXPO 2027 and noted that the association with EXPO was important for Gitex and that this was just the start of cooperation.

She added that the industry's focus was on developing markets, such as Serbia, as they had the greatest potential for quicker economic growth.

She said events like these greatly contributed to progress across the region and further FDI inflow.