Fifty Italian companies who operate in the infrastructure industry went to Belgrade to take part in a meeting entitled ‘Building together: Serbia, Italy and Montenegro’ and organised by the Italian Trade Agency (ICE), with the National Association of Construction Companies (ANCE), the Association of Engineering, Architecture and Technical-Economic Consultancy organisations (OICE) and the Italian Embassy. The meeting was to find out more about work and investment opportunities, to launch projects with Serbian and Montenegrin companies, and to strengthen existing ties. The opportunities of most mutual interest are related to the areas of transport, the environment, hospital infrastructures, renewable energy and energy efficiency.
“Italy can make an important contribution to the Connectivity Agenda for the Western Balkans” said Ambassador Carlo Lo Cascio, as our companies have a high level of expertise in this area which can be made available to Serbia and Montenegro.
The Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure, Zorana Mihajlovic emphasised the “political and financial stability” of Serbia as an advantage for anyone wishing to invest there.
Cooperation between Italy, Serbia and Montenegro in the infrastructure sector has ample margin for growth, also due to the process by the two countries for accession to the European Union and the EU Connectivity Agenda for the Balkans. In 2016, Italian companies abroad secured 244 work orders for over 20 billion euros, increasing foreign sales by 17.8%, the highest amount in the last 10 years.
The Deputy Prime Minister added that Serbia and the region would not progress quickly without infrastructure, and also encouraged Italian companies to invest in Serbia. “There are currently a large number of companies working in the railway sector in Belgrade, but we will also present projects for other sectors including road, river and airline transport,” said Mihajlović. The value of the infrastructure projects that Belgrade is building amounts to about 16 billion euros, including projects currently being built and ones just starting up.
Further contributions were made to the conference by the Montenegro State Secretary of the Ministry of Transport and Maritime affairs, Mummer Hajdarpasic, and the Italian Ambassador in Podgorica, Luca Zelioli.