President attends trilateral meeting in Turkey

BELGRADE The trilateral meeting between the leaders of Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Turkey is being held in Ankara today and on Wednesday. Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic is attending the gathering hosted by his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul. President attends trilateral meeting in Turkey The three members of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency - Nebojsa Radmanovic, Bakir Izetbegovic and Zeljko Komsic - are also taking part. Economy ministers of the three countries met on the first day of the summit to discuss establishing a trilateral board for trade. An agreement on economic cooperation was also signed. This is the third trilateral summit of its kind. The first was held on 2010, also in Turkey, while the second took place in 2011 in Serbia. Ahead of his trip to Ankara, Nikolic met in Belgrade with the president of the Serb entity in Bosnia, the Serb Republic (RS), Milorad Dodik. Dodik told B92 in an interview that it would be "quite appropriate" for the entity's positions to be represented at the gathering "by Belgrade, and not Sarajevo." (Tanjug, file) Serbia, Turkey, Bosnia sign cooperation protocol Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic, Turkey's Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Minister of Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Sarovic signed in Ankara on Tuesday a declaration on economic and trade cooperation. The declaration improves the three countries' economic cooperation in all fields and increases trade and joint presence on other markets. Ljajic said the signing was an excellent introduction to the trilateral meeting between the countries' presidents, scheduled for Wednesday and added that the good political relations between Serbia, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina had to be accompanied by appropriate economic cooperation, his office released. Ljajic, who is also the minister of trade and telecommunications, said it was unnatural for Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to have double the trade that Turkey had with them individually and that Serbia's and Bosnia-Herzegovina's internal capabilities had to improve in order to increase trade with Turkey and other countries. "Minister Sarovic and I have agreed for our joint initiative not to stop at Turkey, but to try and expand to Azerbaijan and possibly the Russian Federation," Ljajic noted. There is potential for joint projects between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in tourism, energy, construction, agriculture, food industry and military economy, and with Turkey's help and thanks to the declaration, there can be breakthroughs on the markets of former USSR countries and Africa, Ljajic stated. Ljajic and Sarovic agreed it was a great thing for their countries to have signed such a document with a country as economically strong as Turkey, able to lend money to the IMF. Sarovic said Serbia, as Bosnia-Herzegovina's third closest trade partner, and his own country saw a great opportunity for economic growth in the cooperation with Turkey. Caglayan remarked that the signing was a historical act and that Turkey looked forward to any improvements in the economic cooperation between the three countries. The three officials agreed to hold their next meeting in Sarajevo as soon as possible, simultaneously with a business forum between companies from the three nations. B92 Tanjug

President attends trilateral meeting in Turkey

The three members of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency - Nebojša Radmanović, Bakir Izetbegović and Željko Komšić - are also taking part.

Economy ministers of the three countries met on the first day of the summit to discuss establishing a trilateral board for trade. An agreement on economic cooperation was also signed.

This is the third trilateral summit of its kind. The first was held on 2010, also in Turkey, while the second took place in 2011 in Serbia.

Ahead of his trip to Ankara, Nikolić met in Belgrade with the president of the Serb entity in Bosnia, the Serb Republic (RS), Milorad Dodik.

Dodik told B92 in an interview that it would be "quite appropriate" for the entity's positions to be represented at the gathering "by Belgrade, and not Sarajevo."

Serbia, Turkey, Bosnia sign cooperation protocol

Serbia's Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajić, Turkey's Minister of Economy Zafer Caglayan and Bosnia-Herzegovina's Minister of Trade and Economic Relations Mirko Šarović signed in Ankara on Tuesday a declaration on economic and trade cooperation.

The declaration improves the three countries' economic cooperation in all fields and increases trade and joint presence on other markets.

Ljajić said the signing was an excellent introduction to the trilateral meeting between the countries' presidents, scheduled for Wednesday and added that the good political relations between Serbia, Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina had to be accompanied by appropriate economic cooperation, his office released.

Ljajić, who is also the minister of trade and telecommunications, said it was unnatural for Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina to have double the trade that Turkey had with them individually and that Serbia's and Bosnia-Herzegovina's internal capabilities had to improve in order to increase trade with Turkey and other countries.

"Minister Šarović and I have agreed for our joint initiative not to stop at Turkey, but to try and expand to Azerbaijan and possibly the Russian Federation," Ljajić noted.

There is potential for joint projects between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in tourism, energy, construction, agriculture, food industry and military economy, and with Turkey's help and thanks to the declaration, there can be breakthroughs on the markets of former USSR countries and Africa, Ljajić stated.

Ljajić and Šarović agreed it was a great thing for their countries to have signed such a document with a country as economically strong as Turkey, able to lend money to the IMF. Šarović said Serbia, as Bosnia-Herzegovina's third closest trade partner, and his own country saw a great opportunity for economic growth in the cooperation with Turkey.

Caglayan remarked that the signing was a historical act and that Turkey looked forward to any improvements in the economic cooperation between the three countries.

The three officials agreed to hold their next meeting in Sarajevo as soon as possible, simultaneously with a business forum between companies from the three nations.