BELGRADE (SERBIA) (ITALPRESS) – More than 400 companies took part in the third Italy-Serbia Business Forum in Belgrade. In 2024, trade between the two countries exceeded the previous year’s levels, reaching a total of more than 3.7 billion euros.Italy maintains the third position, after Germany and China, in the ranking of Serbia’s trade partners. Serbian imports from Italy totaled nearly 2.3 billion euros, registering a 3.5 percent increase over 2023. Italian imports from Serbia, on the other hand, decreased slightly (-4.2 percent) to about 1.4 billion euros. “In Belgrade for Italy-Serbia Business Forum. About 400 Italian companies were present ready to strengthen our commercial presence in the Western Balkans. Thanks to President Vucic for his friendship, Italy loyally supports the path of Serbia’s entry into the European Union,” Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic at the Business Forum, wrote on X.”Serbia is worth in the first eleven months of 2024, 2.5 billion in exports, with a growth of more than 16 percent compared to the same period in 2023 (which had already grown by +6 percent compared to 2022),” explained ICE President Matteo Zoppas, who added, “ICE is part of that Country System, together with Sace, Simest and CDP, which constitutes the infrastructure for the growth and development of exports on which the government is betting a lot and which represents a quarter of GDP. ICE does this mainly by matching supply and demand, Sace and Simest do it by offering financial support and guaranteeing certainty in payments, to SMEs that want to start or expand their internationalization path. Added to this teamwork is the network of diplomatic representation and that of the trade associations, such as Confindustria, Confapi and Confartigianato together with all the other trade representations and the system of financial institutions. “For Zoppas, “the theme of technology has emerged as a central point for the future development of economic relations between Italy and Serbia. Serbia is showing a growing interest in adopting Italian technologies, which are crucial for competitiveness and entry into the European Union. Italy can be a partner of reference to ensure that production standards in key sectors such as energy and digital transition, automation, agritech can quickly reach the required levels. “Growing ties with Serbia and the Balkans opens opportunities both for Italian companies and for the growth plans of these countries to which the excellence of Made in Italy can offer a great contribution. Serbia is a GATE country for SACE, and thanks to our presence there with an office in Belgrade since 2023, which has facilitated relations with local counterparts, we count on increasing the portfolio of operations, which to date amounts to more than 1.2 billion euros. Our goal is to accompany Italian companies in this market, making them more competitive and creating new business opportunities,” said Alessandra Ricci, managing director of SACE.”In the first nine months of 2024 we see that Italian exports to Serbia have increased by 16.3 percent for a total of 2 billion euros, and these data lay the foundations to strengthen already solid and growing economic relations between Italy and Serbia,” she continued. “Looking toward the future, there are many new areas of cooperation on which to focus: from instrumental mechanics to agribusiness, from jewelry to means of transport.”Italy and Serbia have a strong bond rooted in history, but today we want to look with determination to the future for a cooperation that can embrace many strategic sectors,” said Confapi President Cristian Camisa.”As a proof of how much we value this link,” he added, “Italy is here today with a delegation composed of the highest government officials, large industry and public or state-owned industry, small and medium private industry represented by Confapi, the most important bodies that support the internationalization of companies CDP, SACE, SIMEST and ICE. “Today we are among Serbia’s leading trade partners,” Camisa stressed, “with a volume of trade that has exceeded 4 billion euros. Over 1,200 Italian companies are present, representing 5.5 percent of Serbia’s national GDP. Our partnership aims to be win-win. The founding characteristic of the world of industrial SMEs, of our entrepreneurs, has never been to relocate, perhaps with a limited time horizon, but to internationalize through creations of local branches, including through joint ventures that strengthen the company in Italy and create expertise locally. This creates important added value: jobs but also skills and technology transfer,” he concluded.On the banking front, “Intesa Sanpaolo is a natural partner for the public sector, businesses and households in Serbia as it already is in Italy: in the country, as well as elsewhere in the CEE area, we are a leader in the banking market and bring the guarantee of solidity and the ability to invest in the long term, of a group recognized by the markets as a European leader, with about 74 billion in capitalization,” said Paola Papanicolaou, Chief of International Banks Division of Intesa Sanpaolo, who spoke in Belgrade at the Italy-Serbia Business Forum.”Intesa Sanpaolo’s International Banks Division is the natural bridge between Italy and the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe area,” Papanicolaou continued, “in which we are investing significantly, in order to consolidate our position as the leading Financial Institution.”In Serbia, we are the market leader with 6.8 billion deposits, 1.4 million customers and customer loans of more than 5.5 billion: a key country for our development strategies, Italy being the third largest trading partner, with an interchange, of about 4 billion euros, which we are actively engaged in supporting,” he added. “In the last four years we have contributed to the economy with about 2.5 billion annually in new loans, and a growth of about 12 percent per year, paying particular attention to the business sector, both large and medium and small. Likewise, we are an interlocutor with government institutions for infrastructure and system projects, as well as participating in development initiatives alongside major supranational financial institutions, such as the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Development and Reconstruction. We also help accelerate our clients’ ESG and Green transformation: in 2024 alone, new financing in the area amounted to 1.1 billion euros.”
– IPA Agency Photos –
(ITALPRESS).
