Regional office of Italian region of Marche opened in Belgrade

- Companies from the Italian region of Marche are interested in investments and collaboration with Serbian companies - the Minister of Industry of that region, Sara Gianini, said today (June 22, 2010).

She said at the presentation of the Marche region in central Italy that the return visit to Serbia confirmed the interest in expansion of economic, cultural and social relations.

Within the scope of the visit, the Regional Office of the Marche region was opened in Belgrade and it should support the cooperation between Serbian and Italian small and mid-sized enterprises.

The delegation of the Marche region consists of 65 representatives of companies and institutions. That region is situated on the coast of the Adriatic Sea, between the regions of Emilia-Romagna and Abruzzo, it has 1.4m citizens, while its capital city is Ancona.

The State Secretary in the Ministry of Economy and Regional Development of Serbia, Dragijana Radonjić-Petrović, said that Italy had invested about 800 million euros in Serbia since 2001, which made it the sixth largest foreign investor in Serbia.

- There are about 200 Italian companies in Serbian market and they employ 18,000 people - she said and added that there were great opportunities for development of cooperation between 170,000 small and mid-sized enterprises from the Marche region and 300,000 Serbian companies and entrepreneurs.

- The opportunities for cooperation exist in the production of footwear, textile goods, furniture, and furniture and wood-processing machines - said Dragijana Radonjić-Petrović.

The Ambassador of Italy to Serbia, Armando Varichio, said that there was a possibility that the units of Italian companies be moved from the neighboring countries and Romanian region of Transylvania to Serbia.