Yassin Gaber and Eric Walberg report on the recent visit of the new Serbia prime minister Egypt and Yugoslavia were once the best of friends, but this friendship suffered with the collapse of the Yugoslav federation. Serbia was left as the heir to the federation and suffered civil war and isolation during the past decade. As a sign that a new leaf has been turned, the head of the Serbian government made his first official visit to Egypt last week. On 8 November, Serbian Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic met with President Hosni Mubarak, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif and parliamentary speaker Fathi Sorour to discuss bilateral agreements for cooperation in science, technology, telecommunications and cultural spheres and military industry. There are also good prospects for Serbia and Egypt to increase trade and cooperation in agriculture, the food industry, the cable industry and construction. During the official visit to Egypt, Serbian Minister of Trade and Services Slobodan Milosavljevic and Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid signed a memorandum of understanding on establishing the Serbian-Egyptian Business Council. The Serbian Chamber of Commerce signed an agreement on cooperation with the Federation of Egyptian Industries, and JUBMES Banka signed a cooperation agreement with the Egyptian Bank for Export Development. A mining economist by training, and former official at the World Bank, Cvetkovic served as deputy minister of economy and privatisation and minister of finance after the ouster of prime minister Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. In 2008 President Boris Tadic named him prime minister. At a public forum at Al-Ahram conducted by Chairman of the Board Abdel-Moneim Said and open to staff reporters, Said fondly recalled Egypt's "happy memories" of socialist Yugoslavia under its president Josip Broz Tito in the 1950-70s, marked by close ties to Egypt. The last memory, Said recalled, was of the "horrors of the 1990s" when Yugoslavia disintegrated and "disappeared from the Egyptian screen". Cvetkovic recounted the turbulent past of Serbia, the "nonviolent democratic changes" in 2000 when prime minister Slobodan Milosevic was ousted and a "new life for Serbia" began. Cvetkovic highlighted the EU accession talks, indicating that Serbia's application has been accepted and that he will submit the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the European Union to the parliament 24 November for ratification, to be executed in 2011. The biggest issue at present is Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence. The Serbian government's position on Kosovo remains that it will not accept Kosovo's unilaterally declared independence, but the premier made clear to the Al-Ahram audience that he would be against "the notion of a frozen conflict". Tension between the populations is high and "calm talks" are needed. Despite the standoff, Kosovo imports $1.5 billion of Serbian goods. Cvetkovic and Said underlined that the visit is to help revive mutual ties and awareness between the countries. Serbia has been called the Balkan tiger in recent years with an annual growth rate of six per cent. When asked to comment on Sudan and the relevance of the experience of Serbia with the separation of Kosovo and Montenegro, Cvetkovic looked at this thorny issue from an economic point of view. "If this unity is based on common economic interest, you can become brothers. The former Yugoslavia was not built on such interests and this gave ground to nationalists." He pointed to the EU as a good example of integration and underlined their common economic partnership. He was disparaging of nostalgia for the socialist period as the good old days. Reforms are producing redundant labour in Serbia and the biggest problem economically is rising unemployment. Cvetkovic nonetheless said that Serbia has a higher productivity than some of its EU neighbours and touted its prospects. A major goal of the government is to strengthen the economy and social responsibility, battle crime and corruption, and comply with international justice. Serbia maintains good relations with China and Russia. One of the most important policies the prime minister will deal with now is the ratification of the energy arrangement with the Russian Federation.
