The challenges Serbia faces in restarting its economy are the same priorities Italy will place high on its agenda during its semester as European Union president, Ambassador Giuseppe Manzo told participants at an economic conference in the Serbian capital Tuesday.
Those challenges and priorities are growth, jobs, and change, Manzo said. ”In recent years we have brought Italy to Serbia, becoming its number one partner in terms of trade (3.5 billion euros in both exports and imports), foreign investment (two billion euros), and companies (500-600 firms employing 20,000 people)”, the ambassador said.
”We have also helped bring Serbia to Europe through our strong support of its EU integration, which led to the opening of accession negotiations on January 21. When our EU presidency kicks off July 1, we mean to bring Europe to Serbia”.
Manzo went on to stress the importance of developing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which are the true backbone of the economy in Serbia as in Italy. Serbia also needs to work on its agriculture, tourism, culture and research sectors, all of which have the potential to drive the recovery, he added.
Serbian agriculture could be a sector with a lot of investment after devastating floods last month left it in need of large-scale reconstruction projects, the ambassador said.
Source ANSA
