Djuric: We are strengthening cooperation with Malawi

BELGRADE - Speaking to reporters after meeting with Malawian FM George Chaponda in Belgrade, Serbian FM Marko Djuric said on Thursday Serbia and Malawi had agreed to strengthen economic cooperation and that Serbia continued the Yugoslav policy of maintaining and building friendships with African countries and nations.

"We hope and expect that our companies will be more present in Malawi both with investments and concrete forms of cooperation, through projects in mining and energy and agriculture," Djuric said at a press conference with Chaponda.

He added that Malawi was a friendly country with which Serbia had decades-long relations dating back from the era of the Non-Aligned Movement.

"I can proudly say that Serbia continues the Yugoslav policy in the domain of maintaining and building friendships with African countries and nations. We are a country that also has an official holiday - Africa Day on May 25 - and we are very proud that the history of our relations with the African continent completely deviates from the typical European policy in this regard," Djuric said.

He added that the two countries had demonstrated readiness to deepen cooperation.

Djuric especially thanked Malawi for supporting Serbia "on issues that are of the greatest possible significance for us, and for supporting the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country."

He said Serbia stood ready to share its experiences and expertise and provide technical support with the aim of contributing to development and implementation of Malawi 2063, a development vision introduced by the president and the government of Malawi.

Djuric also said Serbia would offer additional scholarships to Malawian university students as part of the World in Serbia programme.

He said he had expressed his satisfaction with the fact Malawi had confirmed its participation in EXPO 2027 Belgrade, and added that, for now, 134 countries were confirmed to attend the event.

Chaponda said the meeting with Djuric had strengthened further the relations between the two countries.

He noted that, in the past several years, the relations had been bolstered through regular engagement, high-level visits and advancement of cooperation in many areas, including education, agriculture, security, sport, science and disaster preparedness.

Earlier in the day, Djuric and Chaponda signed a MoU between the MFAs of Serbia and Malawi on political consultations, which will enable regular coordination and experience-sharing regarding situations in the regions the two countries are located in.