Keepin touch

Whether you have a question, comment, suggestion or any problem in the purview of the government, send us your message and we will try to respond as soon as possible. If your problem is not in our purview, we will forward your message to the relevant institution.

The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Serbia-Montenegro, Italy set up council to improve economic cooperation

Belgrade, 26 September 2005

Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus said today that more than 720 Italian businesspeople will meet on October 10 and 11 with over 1,000 Serbian businesspeople for the Days of Italy 2005.

Labus told a press conference occasioned by the setting up of the council for the development of economic and commercial cooperation between Serbia-Montenegro and Italy that the Serbian government will do everything to help the council to be successful in improving the economic cooperation.

“Cooperation with Italian businesses is very important to us because Italy is among our three largest trade partners and because we expect Italian investment in Serbia to be much bigger than it is now,” said Labus.

He said that the formation of the council is part of the partnership between the public and the private sectors, in which the state’s role is to create a business-friendly environment in Serbia.

Labus noted that events such as the May 2005 annual conference of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Belgrade, the World Bank’s positive report on Serbia, as well as GDP growth of 6.2 percent in the first half of the year are proof that the country’s business climate has improved significantly.

Italian Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi, the honorary chairman, said that the council was created to strengthen overall cooperation between the two countries, including cultural and political ties.

Serbian President Boris Tadic said that the role of the businesspeople in the newly-founded council is to find means to improve economic cooperation with Italy and he expressed the hope that the coming years will see the transfer of Italian investment from neigbouring countries to Serbia.

Members of the council, which will be chaired by Delta Holding President Miroslav Miskovic, are representatives of the Trayal Corporation from Krusevac, Metalac from Gornji Milanovac, Terra Trade, Genex, Simpo, Jupoint, Dunav Osiguranje, Eurosalon, Telekom Srbija, Hemofarm, Tigar, Sintelon, and Komercijalna Banka.

Miodrag Babic, president of Vrsac’s drug maker Hemofarm, said that the company has implemented its first joint venture with an Italian partner by setting up drug packaging firm Zanini Hemofarm.