Minister Dacic opens the Third Conference of Honorary Consuls

On that occasion, Minister Dacic addressed the event, and his full statement reads as follows:

Esteemed Honorary Consuls of the Republic of Serbia,

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and gentlemen,

Dear friends,

It gives me great pleasure to wish you, on behalf of the Republic of Serbia and on my own behalf, a warm welcome to the Republic of Serbia. I am glad that you accepted our invitation to participate in the work of the Conference of Honorary Consuls of the Republic of Serbia - an initiative that I personally launched and of which I am very proud, and which is being held today, for the third time, in Belgrade. I would especially like to welcome the newly-appointed honorary consuls who are participating in the work of the Conference for the first time today. I am convinced that you will use your stay in Belgrade to exchange views and experiences that will be useful in your future endeavours.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The institution of honorary consuls in the Republic of Serbia has a rich tradition and immeasurable importance in representing our country. The Kingdom of Serbia, realizing the importance of also establishing this type of communication with other countries, appointed the first honorary consuls back in the late 19th and early 20th century. After the First World War, the network of honorary consuls began to expand, and in 1931 the then Kingdom of Yugoslavia had as many as 91 honorary consuls. Certainly the most prominent among them, at least until now, was Mihajlo Idvorski Pupin - a great scientist, inventor, professor, but above all a Serbian patriot. His role in the Great War, but also during the Paris Peace Conference, as well as the immeasurable contribution he made to the development of Serbia-U.S. relations are an inspiration for all of us with the task of representing our Serbia.

Dear friends,

We are aware of the importance of the role and potential of your work, as an extremely important link between our country and other countries and peoples around the world. That is why I am proud to point out that today the Republic of Serbia has the largest number of honorary consuls in its history - as many as 100 on all continents.

Your activities make an immeasurable contribution to the realization of our foreign policy priorities, the most important of which is the defence of territorial integrity and sovereignty, i.e., the preservation of Kosovo and Metohija as part of the Republic of Serbia. On our path to full membership of the European Union, promotion of good-neighbourly relations and regional cooperation, but also in the overall development of bilateral relations, both with the most important actors of international politics and with our many traditional friends around the world, your influence and your assistance is of invaluable importance.

Ladies and gentlemen,

My colleague, the Minister of Economy in the Government of the Republic of Serbia, as well as representatives of other competent institutions, will tell you in more detail about the economic trends and economic situation in our country, bearing in mind that one of the key commitments of the Government of the Republic of Serbia is to create the best possible environment for the promotion of business. Diplomatic activities are increasingly directed towards the promotion of economic potential and attracting foreign investments. In this context, I am sure that you, honorary consuls of the Republic of Serbia, also recognize these needs and will continue to actively promote the potential of the Serbian economy and market. The majority of you come from the business world, and I am convinced that, owing to your professional experience and contacts, you will achieve success precisely in strengthening the economic cooperation of the Republic of Serbia with the countries where you live.

Presenting business and investment opportunities in the Republic of Serbia will not be a difficult task, because the economic results of our country, in the past ten years or so, have been truly impressive. Therefore, I dare say that the Republic of Serbia absolutely offers the most favourable conditions for investment. Our uniqueness is certainly also reflected in the fact that we have friends all over the world and that we are open to cooperation with countries from all regions.

Esteemed Honorary Consuls,

The world we live in, the changes that are taking place and the challenges we face, require joint efforts and increased action, so that we can achieve the goals that are ahead of us. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as all other state bodies of the Republic of Serbia, are at your disposal for any kind of assistance in your work. We are ready to hear you out and take into account your suggestions and proposals so that we can, by working together, continue to present our Serbia to the world.

We are deeply grateful to you for providing assistance to our citizens and diplomatic and consular missions around the world, especially in difficult and crisis situations. I hope that there will be fewer and fewer such situations, and more and more events where we will present our culture, creativity, tradition and heritage of our people.

Dear friends,

You have a responsible but also an honourable task ahead of you - to present Serbia to the world as it really is - modern, but also loyal to tradition, multicultural, tolerant and open to strengthening existing and creating new friendships and partnerships. This is evidenced, among other things, by the "World in Serbia" project, which enables young people from all over the world to attend university studies in Serbia and get to know our country in the right way. The connections that are created in this way, the friendships that are formed, last a lifetime.

The spirit of friendship that I am talking about, many will have the opportunity to experience in Belgrade in 2027. We are immensely proud that numerous countries have shown us their trust by selecting the Republic of Serbia, i.e., Belgrade, as the host of the renowned international event Expo 2027, which will be held from 15 May to 15 August 2027 in Belgrade. This event will be a unique opportunity to promote the economic, tourism and cultural potentials of our country. The Republic of Serbia will use this opportunity to present to the whole world its development potential, human and economic capacities, as well as the hospitality of the Serbian people. I am deeply convinced that we will have your help in this, esteemed honorary consuls, and that EXPO 2027 will be one of the best organized and most visited in history.

I would like to emphasize that our future activities will also be focused on innovation, research and development. To that end, we are also building the Bio4 Campus, a unique multidisciplinary complex for research and development in the natural sciences that should become one of the key bioeconomic hubs in Europe, about which you will be informed in more detail today.

Dear friends,

I am convinced that this, Third Conference of Honorary Consuls, and your stay in Belgrade will contribute to your working even more dynamically after returning to your countries and to creating and discovering new opportunities for cooperation.

I would like to thank you once again for everything you are doing for the Republic of Serbia. Your responsible work, as honorary consuls, overcomes cultural differences, fosters understanding and highlights the spirit of the country you represent, bringing Serbia closer to people around the world. The Republic of Serbia, as before, will continue to be at your disposal so that, by working together, we can promote our Serbia in the best way.

Thank you.”