Today's Edition
HAMAD AL KAABI, MOHAMMAD GHAZAL (BELGRADE)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said the UAE has long been a true and steadfast friend to Serbia, offering crucial support during the country's times of crisis, which have significantly benefited the nation's economic growth and development.
The Serbian President, in an exclusive interview with Aletihad in Belgrade, expressed his deep admiration for the UAE's leadership, particularly for its role in promoting international peace.
President Vučić highlighted the growing importance of Serbia-UAE collaboration in shaping a prosperous future for both nations.
A prime example of this partnership is the Belgrade Waterfront project, which is a landmark development that has transformed the city's skyline and cemented the UAE's vital role in Serbia's ongoing progress, said the Serbian leader.
"We like and we love the UAE and their people. We admire, and I personally admire, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan… He is one of the smartest and most patient and prominent leaders all over the world," said the Serbian President during the interview.
President Vučić expressed his deep gratitude for the steadfast support and wisdom offered by President His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, particularly during times of crisis.
Reflecting on their close relationship, the President shared that whenever uncertain about a decision, he turns to His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed for advice.
"Whenever I am not absolutely certain what to do, I give a call to my brother, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and I ask him for advice," said the Serbian President, commending His Highness' wisdom and visionary leadership and constant efforts to strive for world peace and advance the UAE at all levels.
The Serbian President commended the UAE's role in fostering peace and pushing for stability at the global level.
The following is the full interview between the Serbian President and Aletihad:
Mr. President, how do you view the current relations between Serbia and the United Arab Emirates? In what areas do you see potential for this partnership to grow and strengthen in the coming years?
First of all, thank you very much for coming to Belgrade, for being here with us in the capital of Serbia, and just a few hundred metres away from here is the Belgrade Waterfront, one of our common flagship projects.
The United Arab Emirates is considered here in Serbia as a true friend, a brotherly country.
We like and we love the UAE and their people. We admire, and I personally admire His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan… He is one of the smartest and most patient and prominent leaders all over the world.
The two countries established a beautiful cooperation almost 13 years ago, which has actually yielded significant benefits for both sides.
One of the main projects is the Belgrade Waterfront, which has not only changed the face of Belgrade, but also became a flagship project, a landmark for the entire Serbia.
At the same time, I have to say that we invested in our relationship in different fields, from agricultural and industrial to military-technical cooperation, and the strengthening of cultural ties.
Now we expect huge support for Expo 2027 that might come from the United Arab Emirates with their participation at the Expo. Their know-how and expertise will be transferred to our people to help organise the event, in the same way the UAE organised COP28.
Mr. President, how do you envision the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, enhancing trade relations and investment between the UAE and Serbia, particularly in key areas such as agriculture, energy, infrastructure and logistics?
We have already started our cooperation regarding agriculture. We can do a lot more and I believe what was a missing point in our cooperation, something that will be changed with the latest agreement that we agreed upon, is the level of trade exchange. This is something that we need to work on.
President of Serbia: UAE is Serbia’s true friend and partner#AletihadNewsCenter #UAE #Serbia @avucic @predsednikrs pic.twitter.com/xfbSDXCCLP
— Aletihad English (@AletihadEn) January 6, 2025
Cooperation spans several areas including defence and energy sectors, for example.
Speaking about all the other fields, the energy sector, in particular, and with Masdar's presence here, we hope that more UAE companies will be ready in the future to diversify our energy resources, and invest in renewable energy. We see a lot of UAE companies as possible partners. We'll do our best to strengthen all our ties and invest huge time and effort into building a real partnership for the future.
Mr. President, considering the UAE's position as Serbia's largest trading partner within the Gulf Cooperation Council region, what initiatives are being implemented to further strengthen economic exchange and cooperation between our two countries?
If I may say this, whenever I am not absolutely certain what to do, I give a call to my brother, His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and I ask him for advice. His Highness is a very wise person. It's not easy to find wise persons, and it's even more difficult to find and to get wise advice which is given to someone for free. And even if you wanted to pay for advice, you couldn't get better advice than advice from His Highness.
Economic cooperation is one of the key areas of cooperation between Serbia and the UAE and there are several investments in various arenas, such as tourism, agriculture and others.
The two countries will continue to explore all economic opportunities for increased cooperation and further growth in the future.
Mr. President, with Emirati companies making substantial investments in Serbia, how do you assess the impact of these foreign direct investments by the UAE in different areas on Serbia's development and economy today?
Serbia is currently the second fastest growing economy in Europe. You have to take into account that this growth rate is not comparable with India or China, but 3.94%, it's not bad even for that area. Speaking about Europe, the average growth rate is 0.7%, in Serbia it's 3.9%, or next year 4.3% as forecast by the IMF and the World Bank. These are not bad results at all. I think that the impact is, first of all, psychological but also economic, because the economy is half psychology. Whenever I want to show people the level of progress we have made, it is, and it has always been, the Belgrade Waterfront project. It's a flagship project and it's going to be extended and expanded.
When you come to Belgrade, you see Emaar, like you see in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.
We are friends and brothers.
When we were facing a terrible financial crisis 10 years ago, when nobody wanted to help us, when I had to lower our wages and pensions and everything else, the UAE helped us a lot financially, giving us loans under very preferential terms. We will never forget it and the UAE did it again during the COVID crisis.
When you consider the overall impact, it's a huge one and hopefully it will be even bigger in the future.
Mr. President, how do you plan to utilise the technology partnership between Serbia and the UAE to drive innovation and digital transformation in both nations, and how about cooperation in the field of AI?
We have discussed this several times and His Highness is a future-leaning, future-oriented person in this regard. I noticed how much money the UAE invests in modern technologies.
We are doing a relatively good job but I am never satisfied with our performance.
We are lagging, of course, behind the UAE and this is our window of opportunity to get to know more about it, to implement many things that became a new normal in the United Arab Emirates and to bring those people and companies here to help us out on this and collaborate with our experts.
What are the top priority sectors you believe will see growth between the UAE and Serbia in the coming years?
It will be in the fields of AI, software, industry, technology, electronic and all other types of industries related to military, agriculture, industry and automatisation. This is the future and we need to focus on that. When we work together, I think that we can really do a lot.
Looking ahead, what is your vision for the future of UAE-Serbia relations and what milestone do you hope to achieve?
We have a true friendship between our countries. It has been developed for many years, in the last decade in particular. His Highness is today one of the most prominent and the most important leaders in the world. And I can tell you, I believe that he'll successfully contribute to peace in the world.
He's able to speak to everybody, understands their positions and having such a good friend is very important for us.
I assure you that we'll strengthen our ties to the level that many people in the UAE will understand why it's good for the UAE to have good ties with Serbia. At the same time, I think that every single person in this country knows how important our partnership and our friendship is with the United Arab Emirates.
