Serbia is negotiating a $400 million (£285.66 million) loan from Turkey’s Exim Bank to develop infrastructure it needs to spur investments and growth, Serbia’s trade minister said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.

After meeting Turkey’s deputy prime minister Fikri Isik in Belgrade, Rasim Ljajic, Serbia’s trade minister, said Turkey’s Exim Bank had allocated a loan worth $400 million for various infrastructure projects.

“We are still negotiating conditions for the use of these funds and I am hoping ... these conditions would be favourable for us,” Ljajic told reporters.

Ljajic said he hoped parliaments of the two countries would soon ratify a 2017 free trade deal that would boost bilateral trade to around $2 billion.