DODIK: IMPORTANT PROJECTS ARE BEING IMPLEMENTED WITH CHINESE COMPANIES

BIJELJINA, JUNE 12 /SRNA/ - SNSD President Milorad Dodik said today in Velika Obarska near Bijeljina that Republika Srpska has demonstrated institutional capacity to implement major infrastructure projects with Chinese companies, including the construction of highways.

"Our new task is to build a highway that will connect Republika Srpska with Serbia. We have demonstrated the ability to cooperate with Chinese partners and with China, which, through the Belt and Road initiative, is intensively cooperating with peoples and states around the world," Dodik said at the ceremony marking the start of construction of the 17-kilometre Bijeljina–Brčko highway section. Dodik stressed that Chinese companies are present in Republika Srpska, adding that the first project within the Belt and Road framework was the construction of the Stanari thermal power plant, which operates in line with the highest standards. "China's growth ensures the improvement of standards and everything needed for future generations. Republika Srpska is a small state with limited capacities compared to the United States, Russia, and China, but it has found a way to cooperate with all of them. We are grateful to Chinese President Xi Jinping and to his vision of developing international cooperation through the Belt and Road Initiative," Dodik said. According to him, Republika Srpska is also grateful for China’s support in the UN Security Council when it was necessary to protect international law. "We believe that our high-level contacts with China will continue. We are pleased that US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are developing cooperation," Dodik said. He said that joint projects include the construction of hospitals, roads, and hydropower plants. "We are building these with Chinese partners. Nothing would have been achieved if the institutions of BiH had been involved. The institutions of BiH have not participated in any significant matters concerning Republika Srpska. We have affection for the Chinese people, while there are no Chinese companies in the Federation of BiH," Dodik said.