The mission, organised by the Italian Association of Construction Contractors (ANCE) in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and with the support of the Italian Embassy and the Italian ICE-Foreign Trade Agency, is led by the Chief of Business Development of the Italian Construction Industry, Counsellor Vincenzo Ercole Salazar Sarsfield.
More than 20 Italian construction companies and financial institutions will meet with representatives of the Government of Bosnia-Herzegovina and numerous local companies to explore the opportunities and prospects in the light of the Country’s infrastructure plans for roads, airports and railways for the upcoming years.
President Biancofiore underscored the importance of the mission “to strengthen political and economic relations with Bosnia which, to date, records a presence of Italian companies well below the potential.”
Indeed, the area of the Western Balkans represents a strategic priority of utmost interest for Italy. The presence of Italian companies has greatly increased in the last few years: in 2007, Italian construction companies were mainly active in Albania and Bosnia-Herzegovina and today they have made their entry on the markets of Montenegro and Serbia, with works worth a total of 324 million euros (+13% in 2015 from 2014 and nearly +700% over 2007).
The next appointment marking the strategic importance of the cooperation between Italy and Bosnia-Herzegovina will be the Western Balkans Summit organised under the Italian Presidency in Trieste on 12 July, featuring a Business Forum that will put together almost 500 Italian and Balkan companies that will be opened by Minister Angelino Alfano.