Dacic: Fourth session of Serbia-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission was very successful

ALMATY - Serbian Deputy PM and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said on Friday a fourth expert session of a Serbia-Kazakhstan intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation, held in Almaty earlier in the day, had been very successful.

Dacic said the commission's work had resumed after Kazakh Deputy PM and Minister of National Economy Serik Zhumangarin had taken office and initiated regular meetings.

Dacic thanked Kazakhstan for its principled position on the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Serbia, the Interior Ministry said in a statement.

He also said a visit to Kazakhstan by President Aleksandar Vucic was under preparation and that the commission had the task of preparing future projects.

"Our external trade was at around 600 mln dollars last year. This year, it is better, having reached 500 mln dollars in the first six months, but Kazakh oil accounts for the bulk of that external trade. We need more space for our exports to Kazakhstan, and that is something that needs to be worked on in the coming period," Dacic noted.

He said there were four key areas where cooperation would be developed in the future.

"The first area is the military industry and military cooperation. The second is launching direct flights to Astana - their proposal is that that should start from October 29, and I hope it will really happen. They are offering Serbia to become a hub and provide the logistics for their international aviation links with other countries. They need that now because, in the past, they used to fly via Minsk and Kyiv, which is no longer possible at this time," Dacic explained.

He said the construction sector was the third area as the Kazakh side had expressed a desire to build luxury hotels and multi-purpose centres in Belgrade whose names would include Kazakhstan's name, the statement said.

"The fourth area is something we are yet to work on - development in agriculture, tourism, science, culture, health tourism and other things. The next meeting will be held next year in Belgrade and I hope we will have successful results," Dacic said, concluding that political as well as economic relations with Kazakhstan were developing very well, which he noted was "in mutual interest".