BELGRADE - Kazakh Ambassador to Serbia Nurbah Rustemov said during a meeting he had with Serbia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Rasim Ljajic Thursday that his country would never recognize the independence of Kosovo, unilaterally proclaimed by ethnic Albanians in 2008.

Ljajic and Ambassador Rustemov, accredited to Serbia on a non-residential basis, discussed ways to improve overall relations between the two countries and opportunities to promote economic cooperation.

They agreed that 2015 should see the holding of the first meeting of the Serbia-Kazakhstan intergovernmental economic cooperation committee, according to a release from the office of the Serbian deputy prime minister, who also serves as minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications.

Rustemov invited Serbian companies working in the field of road infrastructure, construction and agricultural production to participate in the realization of a Kazakh government program.

USD 40 billion will be set aside for the program to build more roads, railways, schools, hospitals and food production plants over the next three years.

Ljajic and Rustemov said a bilateral agreement on the avoidance of double taxation, which was fully prepared, and agreements that were in progress - on cooperation in the field of tourism, cooperation in third markets and cooperation in the field of information and communication technologies - would be signed soon.

Rustemov said that Kazakhstan would open a consulate general office in Belgrade in 2016, and an embassy after that, according to the release.