Macut: Visionary ideas key for growth, we will continue cooperation with UAE

DUBAI - Serbian PM Djuro Macut said on Thursday the World Governments Summit in Dubai had demonstrated that, as in the case of the UAE, visionary ideas were key for a country's growth, and added that continued cooperation between Serbia and the UAE had been highlighted at his meetings on the sidelines of the summit.

"This global summit has demonstrated that countries like the UAE can host a global summit and that, above all, a visionary idea of President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed is crucial. All we have seen here in Dubai is something that emerged in the past several decades. This is really grandiose growth, and it can only be compared to large economies and, say, China's progress," Macut told reporters.

"We underlined our mutual cooperation that is already a years-long one, deep and very branched out. I hope we will continue the projects we have with the Emirates," he added.

Macut said that, on the final day of the summit, he had met with a Paraguayan delegation and the country's president Santiago Pena, who he noted had shown great interest in the situation in the Western Balkans and Serbia's position regarding the autonomous province of Kosovo-Metohija.

Macut noted that Paraguay was one of the countries that did not recognise the so-called Kosovo.

"They completely understand both our position and our relationship, and they will convey their understanding of that to their colleagues in the neighbourhood. I think that their understanding of our political and economic situation is very interesting, and they absolutely support our economic growth and they are exceptionally surprised by our economic growth. I think there is great interest on their part in cooperation with Serbia," Macut said.

He added that Paraguay was a country that possessed enormous natural resources and that it also had similar ideas regarding the energy sector as it was no longer able to rely on hydropower alone.

He said they had discussed development of modular nuclear programmes in the two countries and some forms of renewable energy sources.

At a closing panel on growth of countries, Macut spoke with the Latvian PM about the differences and similarities between the two countries and the pace of their development.

"We are countries that have been developing quickly in the past 20-25 years. Serbia is seeing this quick growth that has emerged in the past ten years or so. As an EU member state, Latvia has an advantage due to the financial resources they have, as well as due to their position, so they have overcome more easily the energy crisis everyone in Europe faces and have not become dependent on gas and oil coming only from the East. So there are similarities, as well as differences," he said.

He said quick development was what the two countries had in common, especially in the IT sector.

"They are a country that has achieved quick development of digitalisation across the public administration, which is something that Serbia, too, aspires to. I think that there is understanding on Latvia's part, as well as an interest in cooperating with us, and the Latvian PM will visit Serbia in the coming period," Macut said.