TADIC: Thousands of Italian companies expected in Serbia

(Mario Monti and Boris Tadic)

Serbian President Boris Tadic said on Thursday he expected the strategic partnership with Italy to result in the arrival of thousands of Italian companies in Serbia, as well as in Italy's continued support to Serbia's EU integration. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti stated Thursday that Serbia has deserved the EU candidate status, and that the efforts that the country made in order to fulfill all EU preconditions set a good example.

He told a news conference during a summit between Serbia and Italy the two countries' strategic partnership had already resulted in a balanced trade between them, but that the possibilities of improving the economic cooperation were unimaginable.

- After the strategic partnership, more than 400 Italian companies have come to Serbia. We expect thousands - he stated, adding that the two delegations had also discussed numerous projects, mostly related to energy and transport.

He mentioned steel, mining, agriculture, pharmaceutical, textile and footwear industries as potentially interesting areas of cooperation.

Serbia's transport systems have bloomed, and Italy will also benefit from that, since its shortest route to Turkey and the Middle East goes through Serbia, he pointed out.

The two delegations also talked about a possible cooperation in constructing the road corridors 10 and 11 and modernizing Serbia's railway network.

- Corridors 10 and 11 practically form a strategic triangle connecting Italy to Serbia, and so Serbia becomes of central importance to Italy - Tadic noted.

The completion of those roads, built jointly by Serbian and Italian companies, could create in this decade an extraordinary environment for the development of economy and benefits for the people, he remarked.

Tadic also listed a number of energy projects where Serbia was already working with Italian companies or intending to establish such a cooperation. He stressed that apart from being a producer of electrical power, Serbia would also be important for Italy as a significant transport hub for electricity.

The start of Fiat 500L production in Kragujevac symbolically complements the decades-long tradition of the two countries' industrial cooperation, Tadic concluded.

Six interstate agreements signed

Representatives of the Serbian and Italian governments signed six interstate agreements as part of the second Serbia–Italy Summit. Ministers of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremic and Giulio Terzi signed a Memorandum of Understanding between the Serbian and Italian Ministries of Foreign Affairs on cooperation in European integration.

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior Ivica Dacic and Italian Minister of the Interior Anna Maria Cancellieri signed a Joint Statement on cooperation between the two interior ministries in the fight against organised crime, as well as a Memorandum of Understanding between the Serbian Ministry of the Interior and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers of Italy.

Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Forestry and Water Management Dusan Petrovic and Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food and Forestry Mario Catania signed the Protocol on cooperation in rural development and quality in the field of agriculture.

Minister of Environment, Mining and Spatial Planning Oliver Dulic and Italian Minister of Environment, Land and Sea Corrado Clini signed an Annex to the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in environmental protection.

The Memorandum of Understanding in the field of information cooperation between the Serbian Tax Police and the Italian Financial Police was signed between Chief Inspector Vesna Aleksic and General Commander Nino di Paolo.