Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Nikola Selakovic met today in Madrid, as part of his official visit to the Kingdom of Spain, with Secretary-General of the Ibero-American Conference (SEGIB) Rebeca Grynspan.

On that occasion, the Head of Serbian diplomacy said that our country wished to preserve and further promote the traditionally good relations with the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, based on mutual friendship and strong historical ties.

The Minister emphasized that Serbia was interested in gaining the status of an associate observer in the Ibero-American Conference because that would create an additional platform for the development of cooperation with Latin American and Caribbean countries and contribute to better connectivity and strengthening of cooperation in the fields of education, science, technology and art. He assessed that the meeting held today was a new page in Serbia's relations with SEGIB and the member countries of this organization.

Minister Selakovic pointed out that, in the last few years, Serbian culture in the member states of Iberophone nations was represented by individual quality content, however of insufficient scope and intensity, and that gaining observer status in this international organization would provide opportunities for continuous enhancement of existing and establishing new models of cultural and educational as well as economic cooperation.

Furthermore, the Minister point out the very successful work done by the Cervantes Institute in Belgrade and that there was a great interest in learning Spanish in Serbia.

Recalling that a special contribution to the traditionally friendly relations with countries outside Europe had been given, at one point in time, by the cooperation within the Non-Aligned Movement, Selakovic said that these relations were based on cooperation in numerous areas of common interest, but also on Serbia's commitment to being a reliable partner to the countries of Latin America.

The Serbian Foreign Minister informed his collocutor about the "World in Serbia" programme, through which our country provided scholarships to a large number of students, mostly from the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement, and called on SEGIB members to become more actively involved and invite young people to use the opportunity to attend studies in Serbia.

The Minister also said that our country was interested in strengthening economic cooperation, and above all in increasing the volume of and balancing the trade in goods, which did not match real opportunities and good political relations.

Selakovic pointed out that Serbia's goal was to enhance economic cooperation and attract investments from Latin American countries by creating a favourable environment and using existing contractual frameworks and opening up new opportunities, which is why it offered numerous possibilities for foreign investors.