April 26 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government is implementing projects with a combined value of 1 billion euro ($1.2 billion) jointly with the European Investment Bank (EIB), prime minister Ana Brnabic said on Thursday.
The projects in the field of research and development (R&D) and in the IT sector, which amount to 65 million euro, are among the pillars of cooperation with the EIB, together with the 50 million euro investment in water supply and wastewater treatment, Brnabic said in a statement.
Moreover, a total of 70 million euro will be invested in IT projects at schools throughout Serbia, Brnabic said after a meeting with the president of EIB, Werner Hoyer.
Serbia and EIB jointly carried out projects with a combined value of 7 billion euro in the last 10 years, she added.
Investors are interested in projects in Serbia and see prospects in developing the transport and infrastructure connectivity of the region, Hoyer said.
The vice president of EIB, Vazil Hudak, told SeeNews last month that the lender is looking to finance projects in broadband distribution and R&D to continue to support the enterprises in the region.
"We are focusing, on the one hand, on broadband distribution which is very important for the competitiveness of the economies," Hudak said back in March.
In 2017 alone, the EIB approved 664 million euro of new operations, disbursed 548 million euro for investments and signed 330 million euro of new finance in the Western Balkans.
($ = 0.821421 euro)