Stronger cooperation of Italian and Serbian company in construction – “Italy & Serbia – Building Together” conference held

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Construction, Transport and Infrastructure Zorana Mihajlovic stated that there was potential for a stronger cooperation between Serbian and Italian companies in the areas of construction and transport and invited Italian companies to work in Serbia, noting that there was also room for cooperation in the area of preparing the project-technical documentation.

– It’s important that Italian companies which we will negotiate with on possible new jobs are present at this business forum. I hope that there will be plenty more opportunities for them to work with Serbian companies on infrastructural projects – Mihajlovic said at the conference “Italy & Serbia: Building Together”, held at the Italian palace in Belgrade, in the organization of the Italian Trade Promotion Agency ICE and its office in Belgrade.

She reminded that around 600 Italian companies operated in Belgrade, employing more than 20,000 people, and that Italy had invested EUR 2 billion in Serbia in the previous 10 years. Mihajlovic also said that Italy was Serbia’s first foreign trade partner and that 17% of Serbia’s total exports went to that country.

The initiative “Italy & Serbia: Building Together” was started to the end of providing support to Italian companies interested in the Serbian construction market and cooperation with Serbian companies in this area, and the gathering was organized with the help of the Embassy of Italy in Serbia as part of the far reaching program of promotion of the Italian construction sector abroad, jointly run by ICE, ANCE (Italian Construction Contractors’ Association) and OICE (Italian Trade Association for Engineering and Technical-Economic Consultancy Work).

– Italy is Serbia’s leading economic partner, and our foreign trade exchange is worth around EUR 4 billion. We aim to further strengthen the position by improving the cooperation between companies of our two countries in order to start realizing, as efficiently as possible, numerous important infrastructural projects defined by the Government of Serbia, supported by the EU programs and financial institutions like the EBRD and the EIB, as well as other international organization in the area of roads and transport, healthcare, spatial planning, tourism and utility services – pointed out Giovanni Mafodda, the director of ICE’s Belgrade office.

More than 40 Italian companies from the areas of construction, planning and engineering, representatives of Serbian companies and institutions, as well as state officials of the two countries took part in the conference. The intensive two-day program encompassed expert presentations, presentations of possibilities of cooperation and potential sources of finance, as well examples of successful projects which had already been implemented.

– The cooperation between Italian and Serbia companies is excellent in all areas, from agriculture, through mechatronics, textile, to automobiles, and this is why it’s important for business people from the area of construction to be present. Italian companies bring certain knowledge and skills when they come here, in order to help Serbia manage the entire construction sector, not just by building roads and railways, but by providing support in planning and finding sources of finance – said the ambassador of Italy to Belgrade, Giuseppe Manzo.

Activities and projects of international organizations were presented at the conference – the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the EU Delegation to Serbia and the European Investment Bank (EIB), and the participants included Gerardo Biancofiore, president of the international group for small and medium enterprises of ANCE, Gabriele Scicolone, pressing of OICE, Alfredo Ingletti, vice president of OICE, Milan Vranic, general manager of the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, Jovan Krstovic, secretary of the Association of Construction, Building Material Industry and Housing of the CCIS, Nikola Matic, vice president of the Association of Consulting Engineers of Serbia (ACES) and many others.

ICE-Italijanska agencija za spoljnu trgovinu Beograd

Ministarstvo građevinarstva, saobraćaja i infrastrukture Republike Srbije

Ambasada Italije Srbija

Delegacija Evropske unije u Republici Srbiji Beograd

EBRD Evropska banka za obnovu i razvoj Beograd

EIB

Privredna komora Srbije

Italian Trade Promotion Agency

ICE

Giovanni Mafodda

Italy & Serbia Building Together conference

Building Together

Ministry of Construction Transport and Infrastrucutre

Zorana Mihajlovic

project technical documentation

infrastructure

Embassy of Italy in Serbia

Giuseppe Manzo

Italian Construction Contractors Association

ANCE

Italian Trade Association for Engineering and Technical Economic Consultancy Work

OICE

EU Delegation to Serbia

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EBRD

European Investment Bank

EIB

Gerardo Biancofiore

Gabriele Scicolone

Alfredo Ingletti

Milan Vranic

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

CCIS

Jovan Krstovic

Nikola Matic