Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivan Mrkic met today with Deputy Chairman of the African Union (AU) Commission Erastus Mwencha.

Minister Mrkic said that Serbia was committed to strengthening its cooperation with the African countries with which it was linked by bonds of traditional friendship. It was agreed with Mwencha to work out a Memorandum of Understanding and set-up a Joint Committee to coordinate activities aimed at economic cooperation between Serbia and African countries.

Minister Mrkic underlined that the Deputy Chairman of the AU Commission was impressed by what he saw during his tour of Serbian factories, including "Energoprojekt" which had operations on the African continent.

Minister Mrkic thanked the Deputy Chairman of the AU Commission for the position on Kosovo and Metohija, in view of the consistent approach to the resolution of this issue.
- This is very important for Serbia in its continued efforts aimed at normalizing the conditions, without recognizing the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo and Metohija, said Mrkic.

Mwencha pointed out that the meeting was mainly focused on economic cooperation, since the African continent was developing, more than any other continent, at an accelerated pace and that Serbia had a technological edge. In this context, he underlined that the largest scope for cooperation existed in the fields of construction, defence and pharmaceutical industries.