Djuric: Riyadh conference opportunity to present Serbia, make new contacts

RIYADH - By attending the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh, which has brought together more than 40 world leaders and the top figures in science, technology and business, Serbia is catching up with the latest trends when it comes to the economy, geopolitics as well as artificial intelligence, Serbian FM Marko Djuric said on Tuesday.

Djuric said Serbia was undoubtedly one of the most attractive investment destinations, not only in the Balkans but also in southeastern Europe, due to its central location and its huge pool of talent, as well as a very broad regulatory framework enabling the creation of science and technology ecosystems that were perhaps not present in other European countries.

"For that reason, Serbia can boast the fact that, today, it is a country whose economy is structured so that new technologies are already surpassing agriculture in terms of the GDP share but, at the same time, a country that has modern data centres, such as the one in Kragujevac, which is a state data centre, but one that is used by some of the largest companies. It is not without reason that some of the largest companies, such as Microsoft, Oracle and even automotive companies such as Rivian, are developing their products in Serbia, because, in our country, there is both talent and a regulatory framework that make something like that possible," an official statement quoted Djuric as saying.

Accordingly, Serbia will continue to use technologies, know-how and science as an instrument of bridging the gap that exists between it and the most developed countries, Djuric said, noting that the conference was an opportunity not only to showcase opportunities in Serbia, but also to build new contacts, identify new trends and position Serbia in the best possible way.

More vigorous application of science and technology in various segments of life is Serbia's development chance, he said.

"The conference is also a good opportunity for various meetings, like the one with the EXPO 2030 Riyadh CEO, with whom models of partnership cooperation were discussed in order to make EXPO 2027 Belgrade and EXPO 2030 Riyadh as successful as possible," Djuric noted.

He especially pointed out that he looked forward to overall development of Serbia-Saudi Arabia relations, as well as to an opportunity to present Serbia at numerous meetings as what it really is - a frontrunner in application and development of modern technologies.