The Minister of European Integration and International Cooperation of the Republic of Srpska, Zlatan Klokić, said that Srpska’s ninth representative office abroad would be opened in China, whose business entities had achieved remarkable cooperation with Srpska in the past period.

‘Since we are open to foreign investments, a socio-economic justification certainly exists for the establishment of this representative office’, said Klokić.

He added that Srpska’s Chinese representation would be based in Shanghai and established to perform tasks for the needs of the Republic of Srpska in the fields of economic, scientific, technical, cultural, educational, social, informational, sports and other cooperation with entities in China.

The Government of the Republic of Srpska has decided to establish a representative office of the Republic of Srpska in the People’s Republic of China. This shows Srpska’s commitment to expanding the network of its representative offices abroad and to establishing representations in individual countries to perform affairs of the Republic of Srpska in many fields, in accordance with the constitutional position and powers of Srpska’, concluded Klokić.

Funding for the operation of the representation will be provided in the budget of the Republic, with the Ministry of European Integration and International Cooperation, and the decision, signed by the Prime Minister of Srpska Radovan Višković, will enter into force on the eighth day after its publication.

A large number of Chinese companies are present on Srpska’s market implementing some of the large investments, and Srpska also has a significant volume of foreign trade with that country.

China is among the top ten RS foreign trade partners, but, unfortunately, imports from the Chinese market account for 98 percent of that exchange and exports from Srpska for only two percent. So, China is important as a foreign trade partner, but on the other hand, the export-import ratio is low – said the president of the RS Chamber of Commerce, Pero Ćorić.

He said that the role of the newly established RS representation would be aimed precisely at expanding cooperation, but also at increasing exports to China.

– We should present in a professional and high-quality manner the types of goods we could market in China. It might be wine or some other commodity. It is necessary to open the door to some new cooperation with that country because it is an economy ranked among the leaders in the world – stated Ćorić and announced a fair to be held in Shanghai at the beginning of November, where Srpska would also participate and domestic businessmen would already have a chance to present themselves to the market of that leading economic power.

Srpska currently has eight representative offices around the world, in Serbia, Israel, Austria, Belgium, Russia, Greece, Germany and the United States of America.

Expenses 2023

The amount of BAM 5.3 million has been earmarked for the operation of Srpska’s representative offices abroad this year, with the most, namely BAM 960,000, planned for the one based in Moscow. The representation in Serbia comes second with the allocation of BAM 930,000.

Among the eight representative offices of Srpska, the smallest amounts have been planned for those in Greece and Israel this year, i.e. BAM 400,000 and 320,000, respectively.

Source: Srna – Glas Srpske

Photo: Srna