Within the Days of Srpska in Serbia, the Minister of European Integration and International Cooperation of the Republic of Srpska, Zlatan Klokić, spoke with the officials of the city of Subotica about strengthening the cooperation between Subotica and Srpska and its cities and municipalities, to which the Subotica Free Zone was presented.

Klokić’s meeting with the Mayor of Subotica, Stevan Bakić, and his colleagues was also attended by the Head of the Representative Office of the Republic of Srpska in Serbia, Mlađen Cicović, an associate at the Representation, Tatjana Duvnjak, and city and municipality representatives from Banja Luka, Prijedor, Zvornik, Modriča, Srbac, Šamac, Rogatica, Sokolac.

After the meeting, Klokić said that they spoke about how the Subotica business zone had been built, and that it should be an example of good practice to apply in the Republic of Srpska.

‘It is best to learn from the best. And the best is the business zone of Subotica’, said Klokić.

He expressed hope that in the time ahead some of the Republic of Srpska local self-governments would have the opportunity to establish their own business zones on the model of Subotica.

‘This is an example of how we should develop business activities, because Serbia is the most important foreign trade partner for us, and we expect that such events can only contribute even further to the development of the economy on both sides of the Drina’, Klokić said.

He thanked the mayor of Subotica for the warm welcome and for Subotica hosting the Days of Srpska in Serbia, and expressed his satisfaction over a number of municipality heads from the Republic of Srpska attending the meeting.

Having thanked the host for the reception, Cicović reminded that the Republic of Srpska Representation in Serbia was working on strengthening the cooperation between the peoples of the Republic of Srpska and Serbia, and emphasized the importance of presenting the good practice of the Subotica Free Zone to representatives of cities and municipalities from the Republic of Srpska.

‘I think we did the best by presenting the Republic of Srpska, and in Subotica we are doing the best job for Srpska and Serbia’, Cicović said.

He reminded that the first Days of Srpska in Serbia began in 2013, and that this year the Republic of Srpska was celebrating its 30th anniversary and the Representation was celebrating the tenth anniversary of the Srpska Days in ten cities across Serbia.

‘This year, we tried to present what the Republic of Srpska is today and what the Republic of Srpska wants to be in the future. I think we did it in the best way’, said Cicović.

He stated that the event Srpska Days was symbolically opened by Srpska’s Prime Minister at the National Theater in Belgrade, and that it would be closed that night by the Prime Minister of Vojvodina at the theater in Novi Sad.

The Mayor of Subotica, Bakić, said that all these events lead to the implementation of the policy of the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, that is, friendship, fraternal harmony between the Republic of Srpska and Serbia, and building the unity of the two same peoples on both sides of the Drina.

He said that today’s meetings had been concrete and substantial, and that the guests from the Republic of Srpska had been presented how the Subotica Free Zone operates and achieves business success.

Bakić recalled the previous meeting with Cicović in February 2021 where it was pointed out that Subotica had great potential both with the entire Republic of Srpska and with its cities and municipalities.

He added that there were several native associations operating in Subotica, which were particularly active and offering great potential for strengthening the cooperation between Serbia and Srpska.

After the meeting, Klokić and Cicović visited the Serbian Cultural Center, and representatives of the Republic of Srpska cities and municipalities – Banja Luka, Prijedor, Zvornik, Modriča, Srbac, Šamac, Rogatica, Sokolac – attended the presentation of the Subotica Free Zone.

The Director of the Free Zones Administration at the Serbian Ministry of Finance, Jasmina Štambuk, also addressed the audience at the reception.

Before that, the Republic of Srpska Children’s Theater performed the play The Frog King in the Subotica Children’s Theater, and last night the Katera musical group from Istočno Sarajevo had a concert in the Sveti Sava Serbian Cultural Center.

Source and photo: Republic of Srpska Representative Office in Serbia