'India, Serbia have huge potential for trade & investment': President Murmu

New Delhi, June 9

President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday said that India and Serbia have huge potential for trade and investment.

Addressing the India-Serbia business forum in Belgrade, President Murmu said that both nations have had friendly relations since the days of the Non-Aligned Movement, and therefore, it is now time to build and strengthen the economic partnership as well as trade ties.

She expressed confidence that trade between the two countries could grow by around $1 billion.

Currently, bilateral trade between India and Serbia is at $320 million.

President Murmu is in Serbia on the last leg of her two-nation visit. She is on a three-day state visit to the east European country till June 9.

The President thanked her Serbian counterpart, Aleksander Vucic, for making the business forum possible.

Earlier, Murmu also had a meeting with Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, who called on her.

Meanwhile, addressing the event, President Murmu highlighted that the Indian economy is among the fastest growing economies in the world, which is on its way to become the third largest before the end of the decade.

"We have seen significant success in the auto and auto-components sector, health care, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, renewable energy, textiles and apparel, space, information technology, telecom, fintech, and financial services," she said further.

The President also expressed happiness about recovery shown by the Serbian economy from the Coronavirus pandemic.

"I am told that Serbia has also attracted more than half of the FDI received by the Western Balkans region since 2018. Road and rail investments are also taking place at a healthy pace, to integrate Serbia into wider European networks. Yours is a country of intelligent, hard-working people driven by innovation and ideas. Serbia can become an effective gateway for Indian companies to access broader markets in Europe and Eurasia," she said.