ITALY 2022
INTERVIEW
H.E. CARLO LO CASCIO, AMBASSADOR OF ITALY TO SERBIA
SERBIA’S EU ACCESSION EFFORTS SHOULD BE
BETTER ACKNOWLEDGED
Italy supports Serbia in fulfilling its EU accession requirements, acknowledging Belgrade’s efforts to implement crucial reforms and looking forward to the new National Assembly and the new Government proceeding steadily along the same track flows have been rising to pre-Covid levels and reached a new record level in 2021, with total trade worth 4.1 billion euros (+24%). And our bilateral trade has retained its positive pace in this first quarter of 2022 (up 19% compared to the first quarter 2021).” Our interlocutor also notes that the nearshoring opportunities offered by the Serbian market were also discussed during the successful recent visit of Confindustria and Confindustria Est Europa to Belgrade on 9th and 10th May.
F
irst the pandemic and then the sudden geopolitical challenges brought about by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine have been hitting logistics, supply chains and the energy and commodities markets. It is therefore no surprise that this topic dominated the first part of our interview with Italian Ambassador to Serbia H.E. Carlo Lo Cascio. “Following the general trend towards nearshoring, several Italian companies (both multinationals and SMEs) are considering relocating their operations
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from the Far East to Serbia,” says Ambassador Lo Cascio at the start of this interview. “Belgrade has thus attracted direct investment flows, which have been increasing constantly, even during the pandemic, and reached a record amount of 3.9 billion euros in 2021. Allow me to recall just the recent deal signed between the Government of Serbia and the Stellantis group. This latter will start manufacturing a new FIAT electric car at its historical plant in Kragujevac from 2024 onwards. Besides, if we look at bilateral trade,
When we think of Italy, we usually think about luxury brands and exquisite food. However, you are also among the most advanced countries when it comes to the application of cutting-edge technologies in industry. To what extent is Italy today a knowledge-based economy? Italy is indeed more than food & fashion and our new national branding campaign, “Italy is simply extraordinary – be IT”, explains that very well. Our Country is leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution in the same way Serbia is doing in the Balkan region, which is by investing in education and infrastructure. With approximately 5,400 high-tech manufacturing companies, according to Eurostat, Italy is one of Europe’s top four countries in this field. When all sectors are taken into consideration, Italy remains one of the foremost countries in Europe, with
