Vucic: I will be guest of president of Uganda and of Non-Aligned Movement

Photo: Tanjug/Tara Radovanovic

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Sunday that he will be the guest of Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and the Non-Aligned Movement on January 19 and 20 next year, and stressed that it is important for Serbia to have a strategic presence on the African continent.

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"I am proud to be a guest of President Museveni and the Non-Aligned Movement on January 19 and 20, 2024. For us, it is a source of political friendship, but for those who often underestimate it in Europe, it is also a source of political strength," Vucic said during the Serbian-Ugandan business meeting in Belgrade.

He stressed that it is important for Serbia to have a strategic presence on the African continent because it sees Africa as a strategic partner in the future.

Vucic added that he hopes that another 36 years will not pass until the next visit of Museveni - who was on an official visit here over the weekend - or any other president of Uganda, or anyone from Serbia to Uganda.

Vucic told coffee sellers in Serbia that Serbia is ready to discuss certain preferential arrangements with Uganda.

"Let's first see how we will ensure that formally and legally, taking into account all the regulations, to see how it can be cheaper and more successful for you, and for Uganda to earn more," stressed Vucic.

He added that, when it comes to cooperation in agriculture, Serbia will send a delegation to Uganda before the end of August, where it will try to study all the possibilities of cooperation.

"I assume that someone from the Chamber of Commerce will go with our ministers and experts and let's see how to create a regulatory framework from which we can extract the most benefits for the peoples of Uganda and Serbia," stated the president of Serbia.

He added that it is important for Serbia to engage agricultural institutes because in Uganda, about 80 percent of the land there s arable.

"They cultivate about 35 or 40 percent of the land, so we can additionally help through our seeds-producing institutes and in other ways, but also that the people in Uganda themselves see what their needs are. We will be there to help," said Vucic.

He noted that Uganda has the "everything except weapons" arrangement with Europe, but pointed out that Serbia is not a member of the EU, but is on the EU path, and is ready to discuss weapons and ammunition, as well as everything else that is necessary.

"Like we did in the past. We don't hide it, you are an authorized end user. We have good defense industry, we are ready to talk about it, as well as technology transfer and everything else. We have a large number of defense industry factories. They make very good and efficient products that the majority of the world wants," said Vucic.

He added that Serbia currently has no problem with the market right now.

"We can sell everything we produce for the next I don't know how many years, in the East and in the West, wherever we want, where there is an approved end user, whoever offers us a better price, we can do it," said Vucic.

(Telegraf.rs)