Indian ambassador upbeat about cooperation

The global economic crisis offers a chance for India and Serbia to establish very successful economic cooperation, says Indian ambassador to Serbia Ajay Swarup. “I believe that the obstacles for expanding out economic cooperation are of a psychological nature. Since I have been in Belgrade, more than two years, I often hear that ‘India is far away, it is too large, and Serbia cannot export enough products.’ That is just not true,” Swarup said. Indian ambassador upbeat about cooperation “Many of your products can be placed in our market. Indian businesspeople who have been to Serbia have said that their work is made easy by the friendly atmosphere,” the ambassador told daily Vecernje Novosti in an interview published on Tuesday. Asked why Serbia is interesting to Indian capital, he said that the IT Park in Indjija is India’s greatest investment in Serbia, and that he hopes the construction works on it will start in several months, when the property and legal issues have been settled. “The reason for Indians coming to Serbia is simple—you have highly educated experts, and the products coming from Indjija will be closer to the European market than when they come from India. You have excellent institutes. I would mention Mihajlo Pupin, which has developed high-end computer hardware and software systems for highway tolls collection which we are very interested in, because we are working intensively on building modern roads,” he said. Asked whether the global financial crisis will affect India’s plans for economic expansion, especially in Serbia, the ambassador said that the Indian industry, especially banking, is based on domestic sources of capital and is not very dependent on world trends. “I think that now, when the world is being effected by the crisis, and the markets of Western countries are nearing collapse, there is a chance for India and Serbia to improve cooperation. Especially since India's biggest foreign trade partner isthe European Union, which Serbia is aspiring to,” he said. Swarup said that India has continuously supported Serbia in defending her sovereign territory of Kosovo, and that it “supported the Serbian initiative before the UN General Assembly for asking the opinion of the International Court of Justice about the secession and independence proclamation of Kosovo.” India's top diplomat in Belgrade also said that “the two countries are cooperating well in all international forums,” adding that India “expects that Serbia will support the candidacy of New Delhi as a temporary member of the UN Security Council.”

Indian ambassador upbeat about cooperation

“Many of your products can be placed in our market. Indian businesspeople who have been to Serbia have said that their work is made easy by the friendly atmosphere,” the ambassador told daily Večernje Novosti in an interview published on Tuesday.

Asked why Serbia is interesting to Indian capital, he said that the IT Park in Inđija is India’s greatest investment in Serbia, and that he hopes the construction works on it will start in several months, when the property and legal issues have been settled.

“The reason for Indians coming to Serbia is simple—you have highly educated experts, and the products coming from Inđija will be closer to the European market than when they come from India. You have excellent institutes. I would mention Mihajlo Pupin, which has developed high-end computer hardware and software systems for highway tolls collection which we are very interested in, because we are working intensively on building modern roads,” he said.

Asked whether the global financial crisis will affect India’s plans for economic expansion, especially in Serbia, the ambassador said that the Indian industry, especially banking, is based on domestic sources of capital and is not very dependent on world trends.

“I think that now, when the world is being effected by the crisis, and the markets of Western countries are nearing collapse, there is a chance for India and Serbia to improve cooperation. Especially since India's biggest foreign trade partner isthe European Union, which Serbia is aspiring to,” he said.

Swarup said that India has continuously supported Serbia in defending her sovereign territory of Kosovo, and that it “supported the Serbian initiative before the UN General Assembly for asking the opinion of the International Court of Justice about the secession and independence proclamation of Kosovo.”

India's top diplomat in Belgrade also said that “the two countries are cooperating well in all international forums,” adding that India “expects that Serbia will support the candidacy of New Delhi as a temporary member of the UN Security Council.”