DUBAI, – Aleksandar Vucic, President of the Republic of Serbia, today inaugurated the Serbia Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai with a speech highlighting his country’s role as a world leader in innovation and creative industries, and Serbia’s close relations with the UAE.

The inauguration was attended by dignitaries from the UAE and Serbia, including Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General, Expo 2020 Dubai, and Tatjana Matic, Minister of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunications and Commissioner General of the Serbia Pavilion.

President Vucic said: “We believe that innovation and creativity through cooperation among nations is the only way to overcome present and future challenges we all are facing, such as ecological and economic crises, the global pandemic and even political tensions.”

The pavilion will host more than 150 events during the six months of Expo 2020, under the theme ‘Serbia creates ideas – Inspired by the past, shaping the future.

Visitors to the pavilion can time travel through more than 7,000 years of innovation and creativity, using state-of-the-art technology and virtual reality, beginning with Serbia’s highly advanced Neolithic Vinča culture. Exhibition spaces also highlight the work of great scientists and inventors of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, such as Nikola Tesla and Milutin Milanković, and as well as recent innovations that have earned Serbia its reputation as the “Silicon Valley of the Balkans”.

Tatjana Matic said: “With this pavilion, we are connecting our ancient history with our future projects. We think that technology can help this civilization overcome such crises as the COVID-19 pandemic and help the planet stay alive and become more human.”

President Vucic spoke of deep ties between Serbia and the UAE that have helped spur his country’s strong economic growth: “Our two countries are bound by a sincere, strategic friendship, and I consider the development of relations between Serbia and the Emirates to be one of the basic guidelines of my foreign policy.

“I am particularly pleased that this exhibition is being held in Dubai at a time when the UAE celebrates its 50th anniversary, in a city that is the heritage of the visionary approach to economy and politics of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.”