First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic received today a courtesy call from the newly-appointed Ambassador of the Lebanese Republic in Belgrade, Mrs. Nada Al Akl.

In welcoming the Ambassador, Minister Dacic pointed to the importance of further joint engagement towards the promotion of cooperation between the two countries, particularly in the field of economy. In that respect, he emphasized the importance of strengthening economic cooperation through increasing the volume of trade, establishing ties between the Chambers of Commerce of Serbia and of Lebanon as well as through hosting economic conferences and fora in this field, enabling direct business-to-business contacts between the two countries.

Both sides indicated that there was a potential for the development of tourism, noting that the number of Lebanese tourists visiting Serbia had considerably increased on last year.

Minister Dacic expressed particular gratitude for the principled position of the Lebanese Republic concerning its non-recognition of the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo and expressed the expectation that Lebanon would continue to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Republic of Serbia. On the other hand, Serbia would continue to make its active contribution to the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon through engagement of Serbian Armed Forces personnel.

The collocutors agreed that there was a need to step up high-level political dialogue and promote cooperation, and in that context they emphasized the importance of a return visit to be made by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lebanon Gebran Bassil to Belgrade in the coming period.