Serbia: Ambassador Lo Cascio meets Italian enterprises

Ambassador Carlo Lo Cascio chaired a meeting today addressed to Italian enterprises in Serbia. The event, which was promoted by the Italian Embassy in Belgrade, gathered over seventy companies along with the institutions involved in the promotion of the Italian economic system. The Italian Trade Agency (ICE), the Italo-Serbian Chamber of Commerce, and Confindustria Serbia discussed the opportunities offered by the local and regional market, as well as the characteristics of the presence of Italian companies in Serbia. Large Italian groups such as FCA, Unicredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, Unipol Sai, Ferrero, and Calzedonia attended the event alongside several SMEs operating in Serbia. Ambassador Lo Cascio highlighted that “Italy was among the first foreign investors in Serbia and has consolidated its position, which must be strengthened through a concerted action by all Italian actors.” In 2017, Italy was Serbia’s second ranked trading partner with over 3.9 billion euros of trade in total, an increase of nearly 200 million euros over the previous year. Moreover, Italy is the first ranked importer of Serbian goods, even though it had a 10% increase in exports last year. The goal for 2018, as Ambassador Lo Cascio said, is to exceed the figure of 4 billion euros.
A rich programme of events will continue to promote Italy in the weeks ahead. On 15 May the Italian Pavilion at the International Agricultural Fair of Novi Sad will be inaugurated and will showcase twenty companies. From 28 to 30 May a mission by ANCE and OICE will be in Belgrade to focus on infrastructure opportunities. On 14 June the annual meeting of  the “Italian-Serbian Collaboration Platform in Advanced Manufacturing Systems and Technologies” will take place with a focus on automation and Industry 4.0. To promote Italian culture, the Sava Centar in Belgrade will host the performance of ‘Tosca’ on 14 May.