June 8 (SeeNews) - Serbia's government said it signed an agreement to receive a 96.188 million euro ($108.1 million) grant under the EU Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the local administration.
The agreement is the first out of a total of four to be signed under IPA and the value of the whole package will stand at 166.4 million euro, the Serbian government said in a statement on Wednesday.
The financing will improve the competitiveness of the Serbian economy by supporting SMEs, improving local infrastructure and boosting the efficiency of the judicial system, European integration minister Jadranka Joksimovic said in the statement.
The IPA grants will help Serbia get prepared for EU membership, enlargement commissioner Johannes Hahn said during the official ceremony for the signing of the agreement.
Belgrade has so far started talks on eight out of the 35 chapters of EU law and has closed negotiations on two, namely Chapter 25 - Science and Research and Chapter 26 - Education and Culture.
Earlier this week, Joksimovic said Serbia will open two more chapters in its membership negotiations on June 20.
($ = 0.8898 euro)