Vucic quotes Lamborghini as he meets with Italian delegation: "Being an entrepreneur means having a vision"

Tajani said that the goal of the forum is to support the growth of the Serbian economy

President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic met today in Belgrade with Italian Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

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Addressing the media at the beginning of the conference, Vucic quoted Lamborghini: "Being an entrepreneur means having a vision, believing in it, and having the courage to realize it."

"Italy is the closest big economy to us. We have doubled our trade. The foreign trade exchange between the two countries has reached 4.6 billion euros last year," said Vucic and added that with the Stellantis plant, that exchange will be incomparably greater.

He stressed that Italy is a true friend of Serbia and that Italian entrepreneurs are always welcome in Serbia. He added that the largest banks in Serbia are Italian.

"I am asking all Italian companies to come to Serbia," said Vucic and added that we offer a safe environment for investments.

Tajani: Italy wants to be more present in Serbia

Italian Foreign Minister Tajani said that Italy wants to be more present in Serbia and the Balkans, which he said has strategic importance and which must feel loved and appreciated by the neighboring countries.

"We started with a large Balkan country that is a candidate for EU membership. It is a political commitment that Italy has worked on, to be present again in Serbia and all parts of the Balkans. We want to continue to cooperate in the future with the people we cooperated with in the past," Tajani said.

He said that Italy is a country that is financially developed, that has four million small and medium-sized enterprises, and that he is confident that it can export its knowledge and products.

"We must internationalize the companies' operations by cooperating with friendly countries and establishing joint ventures for the benefit of Serbia and Italy, as well as to strengthen Serbia's candidacy," said Tajani.

"We want Serbia in the EU, to gain effective membership. We want to create new jobs. We are facing challenges such as the fighting climate change. We need to cooperate in fundamental sectors. It is important that business people meet and together build something for the benefit of our countries, to dedicate ourselves to science and research, without which there is no growth. That connection between the economy and the scientific cooperation of our countries is of key importance," Tajani said.

According to him, the goal of the forum is to show and give a signal to everyone that Italy is interested and that the meetings are part of a sustainable strategy.

Tajani announced the opening of the first headquarters of the Italian export credit insurance agency, which supports lending to companies that want to participate in markets abroad.

246 Serbian and 149 Italian companies will participate in a forum, and around 400 bilateral meetings have already been scheduled, said the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS), which organizes the forum with the support of Italian partners, the Italian Embassy in Serbia and the Italian Trade Agency.

The forum, dedicated to business and scientific cooperation between Serbia and Italy, which is held as part of the official visit of the Italian state-economic delegation to Serbia, started its work in the presence of President of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, and Italian Deputy PM and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

(Telegraf Biznis)