Erdogan arrives in Belgrade tonight with 200 Turkish businessmen

At the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan arrives in Serbia tonight for a two-day visit, reports the Patria agency.

Besides Belgrade, Erdogan will visit Novi Pazar together with Vučić, reports the Danas newspaper.

This is Erdogan's second visit to Serbia. The previous one was in 2010, when he was prime minister. In a statement to Danas, Turkish Ambassador Tanžu Bilgič said it was a historic and important visit.

- We will see what the concrete results will be, but the relations between our two countries are very good and serve as an example for the Balkan region and the rest of Europe - said Ambassador Bilgič, emphasizing that Turkey attaches great importance to strengthening bilateral cooperation with Serbia.

Presidents Erdogan and Vučić have met twice in recent months, this summer at the International Energy Conference in Istanbul and in September in New York, at the UN.

At the time, Serbian President Vučić stated that Erdogan's visit would be a confirmation of the "sincere friendship" between the two nations. Serbian officials expect the economy to be the main topic of the meeting. A Turkish-Serbian Business Forum will also be held, and it is expected that around 200 investors will arrive with the Turkish president.

Erdogan also believes that efforts should be made to strengthen economic relations and trade, which amounted to almost 800 million dollars in 2016.

- The common goal should be one billion dollars in trade, and I support our investors to invest as much as possible in Serbia - Erdogan said after talks with Vučić in New York.

Turkey and Serbia signed a Free Trade Agreement in 2009. Since then, the foreign trade exchange between the two countries has increased 3.5 times. Serbia's exports to Turkey are constantly growing and are now 7.5 times higher than before the Free Trade Agreement. However, Serbia's deficit in trade with Turkey remains impressive.

Thus, in 2015, Serbia exported slightly more than 220 million euros to Turkey and imported about 520 million. Turkish investors have so far opened several mostly textile factories, the largest being Džinsi in Leskovac and Aster tekstil in Niš, and the opening of factories in Lazarevac and Lebane has been announced. Turkey is also interested in investing in tourism and road infrastructure. Mentioned are Kraljevo Airport, the Belgrade-Sarajevo highway, as well as the roads Tutin-Novi Pazar-Sjenica.

A new Free Trade Agreement between the two countries is expected to be signed. The text was recently agreed upon in Ankara by the Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajić and Turkish Minister of Economy Nihat Zejbekči.

The new Agreement also provides for duty-free export of 5,000 tons of beef annually from Serbia to Turkey.