Belgrade 2.0
- Blog na srpskom
- This site best viewed from Belgrade (but not with Internet Explorer).
Almost two billion dollars in trade with Italy
Posted 2006-12-01 13:00 under Business by Ivan /
BELGRADE — Italian and Serbian businessmen started bilateral talks in to enhance trade and economic cooperation.
The event, called “Italy in Belgrade”, is held for the second year and is attended by 200 businessmen from 100 Italian companies, mostly from the northeast. Italy is Serbia’s first trading partner in exports and third in imports, and total trade turnover is expected to reach 1.8 billion dollars this year.
Opening the meeting on Tuesday, Italian ambassador to Belgrade Alessandro Merola said that Serbia was a “natural expansion target” for Italian industry because of compatibility of products in the area of furniture, metallurgy, agriculture and energy. There was also a vast area of cooperation in the field of the protection of environment, Merola said. “It’s time for Serbia to present its production capabilities in Italy, because Italy is already well known in Serbia,” he added.
Serbian president Boris Tadić visited the northern Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia twice this year with a delegation of Serbian businessmen in an effort to expand the cooperation. Serbian Chamber of Commerce president Slobodan Milosavljevic said that expansion of exports to Italy was particularly important in view of Serbia’s total annual trade deficit of about seven billion dollars.
The Italian businessmen were scheduled to visit the centre of Serbia’s struggling automobile industry in Kragujevac on Thursday and the southern city of Leskovac, the heart of the textile industry.
Secondary Source: B92
Primary Source: AKI
