Meeting with the World Bank Regional Director

President Vučić thanked Director Van Gelder and the World Bank for the exceptional cooperation and pointed out that the current framework of the institution's partnership with Serbia has been fully implemented, and that Serbia is ready for the next period in which special attention will be paid to new projects in railway modernisation, market competitiveness, raising environmental standards in the economy, as well as encouraging human capital.

 

"Serbia is increasingly competitive due to its serious and responsible attitude towards the budget and investors, but also due to the planned approach to relevant infrastructure projects that are extremely important for further investments," said President Vučić and especially emphasised that Serbia remains committed to the implementation of reforms, to continue intensive growth as soon as possible.

 

World Bank Regional Director Van Gelder congratulated the President of Serbia on the successfully implemented reforms and highlighted the fiscal consolidation measures that have created a sound basis for further accelerated growth of the Serbian economy. Van Gelder particularly emphasised the extremely successful process of vaccination, which became an example of responsibility and success on a global level, thus making Serbia a safe country for work and business in the conditions of a pandemic.

 

Speaking about the GDP growth in Serbia, the Regional Director of the World Bank pointed out that our country managed to exceed the best forecasts of this institution, and that she expects the recovery of the Serbian economy from the COVID-19 consequences to continue intensifying this year, while growth will be positively affected by a new package of measures to support citizens and the economy. Serbia's GDP growth in 2021 was forecast by the World Bank at 5 per cent, which is 1.9 percentage points more than expected in January.

 

In that context, President Vučić pointed out that following serious analyses and detailed planning, Serbia is ready to reach a growth of 6%, since better results than planned have already been achieved in the first quarter, while numerous large projects are planned for implementation this year.

 

"Today, we believe that we can achieve growth of not only 6%, but also 7% in 2021," said President Vučić, adding that Serbia has already far exceeded these figures in certain areas, such as construction.

 

The interlocutors also discussed the railway modernisation project in Serbia, which will be co-financed by the World Bank and the French Development Agency in the total amount of 102 million euros. The first phase of this programme should start this year and end in 2026. It includes the rehabilitation and renovation of the existing railway infrastructure, as well as technical assistance to key institutions in the sector.

 

Speaking about the new country partnership framework, the World Bank Regional Director emphasised that particular focus will be placed on maintaining macroeconomic stability, as well as on supporting the ecological sustainability of the economy.

 

A special topic of discussion was the Development Policy Loan, which implies the fulfilment of priority actions such as conducting public procurement through an established dedicated portal, reducing sulfur dioxide emissions, as well as nitrogen dioxide in large combustion plants, and adopting bylaws to the Law on Climate Change, after which the allocated funds will be directed to a large number of projects in many areas of the economy.

 

VIDEO MATERIAL CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE FTP SERVER OF THE MINISTRY OF DEFENCE.

 

Belgrade,

 

11th May 2021