The Simonetti-Odescalchi Palaco in Rome was the venue of a conference "Serbia, the Land of Great Opportunities". The conference centering on Serbia's investment potential took place on 30 October. At the invitation of Mr. Francesco Marcolini, the CEO at GreenHill Advisory, Ambassador of the Republic of Serbia to the Italian Republic Goran Aleksic gave a presentation about the investment climate, elaborating on a number of state-provided competitive advantages offered to foreign investors, including a facilitated access to markets of Eastern Europe.

"Italy is Serbia's largest export partner, and the second largest import partner. Political stability, positive growth indicators of 4.8 per cent over the past few months, FTAs with Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Turkey for products from Serbia, as well as a tariff-free access to a market of 800 million people, all constitute competitive advantages for investing in Serbia. Serbia also boasts of 14 free trade areas where one can have business operations, and the Development Agency of Serbia provides support to investors, in cooperation with the Government of Serbia", the Ambassador underlined.

The Ambassador added that the two countries shared a strategic partnership, and that the following year marked the 140th anniversary of diplomatic relations. He also recalled the history of the arrival of Italian companies to the former Yugoslavia, since the late 1980s, and in Serbia since the 1990s, which led to a significant presence of Italian companies, including Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, Fiat, Ferrero, Geox, Generali insurance company, and others. More than 700 Italian companies active in Serbia employ 25 000 people. He particularly spoke about the safety of investing in Serbia, tax facilities for foreign investments, 20% VAT rate and 15% tax on profit.





Italian institution representatives made comments about the supports provided by the Italian Government for exports and internationalization of domestic companies. Business environment in Serbia was assessed as favourable and encouraging.



GreenHill Advisory CEO Francesco Marcolini announced that a mission of entrepreneurs wishing to invest in Serbia would be set up in 2019.

Agenzia Nova also covered the conference.