Vucic thanks Italy for its respect, support for Serbia

BELGRADE - Discussions with Italian businesspeople are extremely important for Serbia, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said on Monday, noting that he was grateful to Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and FM Antonio Tajani for their exceptional respect for Serbia.

Speaking at a Serbia-Northeast Italy business forum in Belgrade, Vucic said the level of mutual respect between Rome and Belgrade was higher than before.

"I am especially happy to be here today, and discussions with businesspeople from the Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Trento regions are extremely important for us," Vucic said.

He said he was endlessly grateful to Meloni and Tajani for their exceptional support for Serbia and to Italy for the enormous support for Serbia's EU path, and added that he awaited Meloni's visit to Serbia with great attention.

"In recent years, we raised the annual level of trade with Italy to over 5 bln euros for the first time ever. The services trade amounts to 650 mln, but I am not particularly happy, that depends on whether I am talking about imports or exports... ...We are in second position in that regard. Italy has its traditional ally Albania. We are a bit jealous of that and it is our job to overtake Albania in the period to come, while respecting all their traditional ties," Vucic noted.

He thanked Meloni for insisting on major Italian financial and other institutions coming to Serbia and setting up head offices in Belgrade.

"That means much to our country, it means much to Serbia, and I believe that, in the next two months, when we will hopefully hold a high-level summit with PM Meloni and all Italian businesspeople, we will be able to achieve even more important agreements and lend a completely new impetus to our relations," Vucic said.

Expressing the confidence trade with Italy would grow in the years to come, Vucic said efforts to attract Italian investors must be stepped up further and that there should be more Serbian investments in Italy as the number of Serbian entrepreneurs capable of investing there was growing.

He said Italy's exports amounted to 650 bln euros, with Serbia accounting for 0.5 pct of the total.

"I believe the share can rise to as much as 1 pct in the years to come. You are always welcome here, and Italy is very popular in Serbia," he told the Italian businesspeople in attendance, extending his greetings to the president and the PM of Italy.

"Long live the Serbia-Italy friendship," Vucic said.