GenevaMr. Ján Kubiš, UNECE Executive Secretary, met with His Excellency Mr. Boris Tadić, President of the Republic of Serbia, on Tuesday, 10 January 2012, to discuss issues of mutual interest.
The discussion touched upon the various activities where UNECE and Serbia already cooperate closely, in particular in the fields of energy, transport and environmental issues. Concrete examples such as Trade facilitation and the Single Window, agricultural standards and harmonization of vehicle regulations, among others, were highlighted as well as the successful launch of the UN Road Safety Decade in the UNECE region last April in Belgrade in cooperation with the Serbian Road Traffic Safety Agency.
Ján Kubiš stressed the excellent cooperation between the secretariat and Ambassador Zvekić, Chair of the Commission and of UNECE's Executive Committee. He said that this was especially important at the current juncture, with the on-going review of the Commission's reform process. He also said that UNECE was looking forward to strengthening its cooperation with South-East Europe and assisting member States in their efforts towards greater regional cooperation that would contribute also to their enhanced cooperation with the European Union.
President Tadić said that Serbia was looking forward to strengthening its cooperation with UNECE. He stressed that Serbia's geographical situation at the centre of South-East Europe made transboundary cooperation on a variety of issues where UNECE is active extremely relevant. For instance, he noted that the shortest communication ways between Turkey and various EU member countries is through Serbia.
Attending the meeting were Mr. Andrey Vasilyev, Deputy-Executive Secretary, and Ms Parisudhi Kalampasut, Chief of Cabinet and Secretary of the Commission, for UNECE, and H.E. Mr. Uglješa Zvekić, Ambassador, Head of the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, and Chair of the Commission and of UNECE's Executive Committee; Mrs. Vesna Arsic, State Secretary, Ministry of Economy and Regional Development; Mr. Jovan Ratkovic, Political Adviser to the President, and Mr. Aleksandar Knezevic, Officer for Political Affairs, President's Cabinet.