PARTNERS: ITALY & SERBIA
SME
Italian small and medium-sized enterprises are seen as role models and hubs for sharing knowledge when it comes to the promotion of entrepreneurship among their Serbian counterparts, particularly among the Serbian youth. On the other hand, they are also important investors in the Serbian economy
A Coach And
AN INSPIRATION
W
e would like to ask Confindustria to be our coach when it comes to small and medium-sized enterprises, said Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Serbia President Marko Čadez, speaking at the Public Meeting of Confindustria Serbia – the Association of Italian Industrialists in Serbia – back in February this year. According to the Confindustria statistics, SMEs account for 70 per cent of its members in Serbia, with a total of around 600 Italian enterprises having invested approximately three billion euros of capital in Serbia. And many of these companies are run by entrepreneurs who identified an opportunity to improve their business in Serbia. According to Italian Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio, Italian SMEs play a crucial role in the country and are seen by their Serbian partners as role models. “SMEs represent
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a model that perfectly fits the Serbian business environment, and they can bring added value to the communities where they operate,” said the ambassador, speaking at one 2019 event that brought together representatives of businesses from Italy and their Serbian counterparts. SMEs actually represent the beating heart of the Italian economy, both within the country and beyond its borders. According to the latest OCD report, SMEs generate 66.9% of overall added value in the Italian ‘non-financial business economy’, massively exceeding the EU average of 56.4%. The share of employment generated by SMEs is even larger, at 78.1%, compared to the EU average of 66.6%. Micro firms are particularly important in Italy, providing 28.4% of overall value added and 44.9% of overall employment in the ‘non-financial business economy’. SMEs operating
