BELGRADE, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Serbia and Turkey signed 12 agreements here in Belgrade with an aim to achieve closer ties, expand trade and boost economic cooperation through Turkish investments in Serbia.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrived in Serbia Tuesday for a two-day visit. During a meeting with his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic at the Palace of Serbia, the two leaders talked about bilateral political and economic relations, and signed 12 agreements.
Among the agreements is a political declaration of Vucic and Erdogan on the establishment of a High Political Council for cooperation between Serbia and Turkey.
Another is a new agreement on free trade, which will replace the one made in 2009 and will enable Serbia to export its sunflowers and beef to Turkey without customs fees.
Remaining agreements deal with the reconstruction of some Turkish cultural sites in Serbia, as well as concrete cooperation in several fields like agriculture, forestry, water management, urbanism, transport, infrastructure, energy and education.
Four more agreements will be signed Wednesday when Vucic and Erdogan will jointly visit Serbian city of Novi Pazar, populated mostly by Bosniak Muslims.
Vucic revealed at the press conference after meeting Erdogan that Wednesday's agreements will include a memorandum with a Turkish company in the area of textile that will invest in Serbian city of Kraljevo and employ 2,500 people.
Serbia and Turkey will in the future build better relations and their trade balance will exceed 1 billion U.S. dollars by the end of this year, Vucic predicted.
"We want and we wish for the best possible relations with Turkey, and we are going to build them," Vucic said.
He pointed out that the agreements which have been signed will have an important influence to economic and the overall cooperation between the two countries.
Erdogan said Turkey wishes to raise the level of trade with Serbia to 3 to 5 billion dollars annually and that it is important that the two countries develop their education, health services, justice and security.
