US software giant Microsoft said on Tuesday that it had decided to set up a software development center soon in Belgrade, the fifth of its kind throughout the world.

Microsoft made the decision in view of Serbia's great potential in the area of information technology, said Christopher Brennan, Microsoft's Southeast Europe General Manager.

Aside from Serbia, Microsoft has development centers only in the United States, China, India and Ireland.

Meeting a Microsoft delegation headed by Brennan, Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that setting up the center was very important for the incubation of Serbian information technology experts.

According to Microsoft officials, the center will be focused on developing programs that recognize the Serbian Latin and Cyrillic alphabets on "PC tablet" computers.

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said it was a good sign for Serbia and an evidence that the business climate in Serbia is improving. "Serbia is no longer a technological corner of the world, because it is becoming part of a technically modern world," he said.

The Microsoft Director for Serbia-Montenegro Dejan Cvetkovic said that with the opening of the center, Serbia will find itself in the heart of the technological map of the world.

Source: Xinhua