The Serbian state will guarantee the security of Bulgarian investments because it welcomes foreign investors, according to Dejan Finic who is temporarily acting as Serbia's Ambassador to Sofia.

Finic made this statement Monday at a roundtable organized by Bulgarians businessmen with investments in Serbia, the Bulgarian National Radio reported.

The topic of the roundtable was the condition of the Bulgarian-Serbian relations in view of the new political reality after Bulgaria's recognition of independent Kosovo.

The representative of the Serbian Industrial Chamber in Bulgaria Ljubisa Mitic said no one was going to hinder Bulgarians' economic activity in Serbia in an institutionally organized way. He did not exclude, however, the possibility of individual hostile acts towards Bulgaria.

Bulgaria ranks seventh among the importers in Serbia, according to information of the Serbian Industrial Chamber. The bilateral trade has increased with 48% in the last four years, and the firms with joint Bulgarian-Serbian participation are 271.

Bulgaria's Deputy Economy and Energy Minister Yavor Kuyumdzhiev announced that the bilateral trade in 2007 amounted to about EUR 800 M, which makes Serbia Bulgaria's fourth largest trading partner in the Balkans.

Kuyumdzhiev also said Serbian firms had been increasingly interested in Bulgarian petrol products and pharmaceuticals. He cited data of the Serbian National Bank, which rank Bulgaria as the 12th largest foreign investor in Serbia in 2007.

The representatives of the Bulgarian investors stated Serbia had a very good investment climate. They laid the foundations of a Bulgarian-Serbian Economic Forum - an NGO, which is going to enhance the bilateral business relations.