CCIS: Stronger business connections of Serbia and Italy

A stronger connecting of Serbia and Italy, especially the Venezia Giulia – Trieste-Gorizia area in the field of economy, is the priority and the goal in the coming months.

Aiming for new partnerships

As emphasized by Marko Cadez, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Serbia (CCIS), and reported by the CCIS, his talk in Trieste with Antonio Paoletti, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Venezia Giulia – Trieste-Gorizia, and Franco Dal Mas, Secretary General of the Central European Initiative (CEI), focused on stronger institutional and business ties between the economies of the Western Balkans and the Alpine-Adriatic region, as well as strengthening chamber and intergovernmental initiatives aimed at developing key transport corridors.

David Piegacki, Secretary General of the Western Balkans Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF), also attended the meetings.

Cadez proposed to Paoletti that Trieste host meetings of businesspeople, investors and chamber leaders from the Western Balkans and the Alpine-Adriatic region twice a year, serving as a permanent platform for connecting companies, developing supply chains, presenting investment projects and launching joint initiatives. The two chamber networks connected through this initiative represent approximately 1.2 million companies. The WB6 CIF brings together around 350,000 businesses from the six Western Balkan economies, while the Alpine-Adriatic network represents nearly 850,000 companies from Italy, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. The aim is to connect this large business base through concrete projects and new partnerships.

– Trieste is a natural place for such an initiative. It is home to the WB6 CIF headquarters, the Chamber of Commerce of Venezia Giulia is one of the active stakeholders in the Alpine-Adriatic network, and the city itself represents an important economic, logistics and historical link between the Western Balkans, Central Europe and the Mediterranean – Cadez said.

Business and transport agenda

Future meetings in Trieste should focus on concrete results, business-to-business meetings, joint investment projects, transport and logistics, the energy and green transition, digitalization, innovation, access to finance and stronger integration of Western Balkan companies into European value chains.

At the meeting with CEI Secretary General Franco Dal Mas, particular attention was devoted to linking this intergovernmental platform with the WB6 CIF and creating a joint business and transport agenda.

– The CEI can bring together governments and European institutions, while the WB6 CIF represents around 350,000 companies and their real needs. It is precisely this connection between political decisions, infrastructure projects and the demands of businesses that can deliver results that companies will feel immediately – Cadez stressed.

The CCIS says in its press release the interlocutors also agreed that priorities include the mutual recognition of controls and the development of integrated border crossings, as well as a joint initiative towards the European Commission for a sustainable solution to the 90/180-day rule for professional drivers from the Western Balkans.

– Corridors are not just railways, roads and ports. They are infrastructure for economic growth, new investment and the faster integration of the Western Balkans into the European single market – Cadez said.

Privredna komora Srbije

Chamber of Commerce of Industry of Serbia

CCIS

Chamber of Commerce of Venezia Giulia Trieste Gorizia

Central European Initiative

CEI

Western Balkans Chamber Investment Forum

WB6 CIS

David Piegacki

Antonio Paoletti

Fracko Dal Mas