This was heard from visiting Italian Minister of Economic Development Paolo Romani late on Wednesday.
“We are continuing the successful cooperation between the two countries and Italian companies are continuing to invest in Serbia,” Romani said after signing a joint declaration on bilateral and economic cooperation with Serbian Minister of Economy and Regional Development Nebojša Ciric.
Romani said he gave Serbia’s Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic guarantees that Italian companies are interested in taking part in the construction of a metro system in Belgrade.
He added he and Ciric also discussed Fiat’s investments in Serbia and the construction of several hydro-power plants on the Drina river, which will mostly produce energy for export to Italy.
Romani invited Ciric to take part in the Italy-Serbia Business Forum which will take place in November in Italy.
Ciric said Romani’s visit is very important for Serbia and commended the Italian government on sending its representative to Serbia with the message that investments will continue, especially at this difficult time when it is facing a crisis itself.
“This proves the importance Italy places on cooperation with Serbia,” Ciric pointed out and added that the excellent political relations are also supported by good economic cooperation between the two countries.
Ciric said he and Romani discussed the participation of Italian companies in several infrastructure projects in Serbia and the current investments of Fiat, Benetton and other Italian companies.
The minister noted Italy was Serbia’s second biggest trade partner, after Germany, and the top export destination for Serbian companies, noting that Serbia has an export/import coverage ratio of 90 percent.
“This says plenty about how well the Italian companies that have invested in Serbia have integrated into the local economy and how much they continue to contribute its good indicators,” Ciric noted.
He confirmed that he and Romani talked about the Italy-Serbia Business Forum in November, when Serbian companies will have a chance to present their potential to the Italian market.
Source b92.net
