L’Italia aumenta gli investimenti in Serbia

Delegazioni a confronto

Summary in italiano

Con questo articolo inizia la collaborazione del nostro Centro Studi con Serbianna, uno dei più importanti siti di informazione sui Balcani. Il contributo redazionale si riferisce alla descrizione della visita effettuata dal Ministro Urso (Governo Berlusconi) due anni fa in occasione delle giornate italiane in Belgrado.

L’autore ci informa sul procedere della visita di Stato del Ministro Urso per poi addentrarsi in una disamina della presenza italiana in Serbia. Un dato fa riflettere: ci sono più di 450 azienda italiane in quel paese balcanico! Ci si ferma a considerare il fatto che la Serbia è strategica in riferimento all’intera Europa dell’Est. Ciò ha determinato la Fiat a fabbricare proprio lì la Punto in modo da poterla piazzare più facilmente nei mercati della Regione. A questo si aggiunga che è in atto un’attenta revisione della legislazione fiscale in modo da attirare altri investimenti esteri. Ma il fatto che il Montenegro abbia deciso di rendersi autonomo non influirà negativamente su una favorevole congiuntura degli investimenti?

Testo originale in inglese

Italy increases investments in Serbia

October 13, 2005 — What was in 2004 such a small of an event, so embarrassingly small, that at the time it was referred to as simply the "meeting" between an unspecified number of businessmen and government representatives has grown into an annual invest-fest, a surprising bonanza of enamor between the Italian and Serbian business.

In 2004, Italy barely registered any trade with Serbia. Today and year later, Italy is Serbia’s third largest trading partner, behind USA and Russia.

At the annual "Days of Italy in Belgrade" ceremoniously hosted for the second year in the row by the Serbian Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, the Italian Deputy Minister of Productive Activities Adolfo Urso said that now, more than one thousand Serbian companies are hosting 450 Italian companies. In the past 12 months, says Urso, there has been a considerable increase in the volume of Italian investment in Serbia-Montenegro through the privatization process.

"This meeting is organized so that regional trade can be jumpstarted that will help Serbia integrate with the economy of EU prior to its membership" said Urso.

Italian business is already in Serbian banking, drugs and apparel, but a recent car production deal between Serbian Zastava and Italian Fiat is spinning most heads in the Balkans.

At initial 15 million Euros, the Fiat deal appears small. The seed money is planned to jumpstart Zastava’s car production unit by building an assembly line in Serbia as well as immediately assembling 7,000 Fiat Puntos in Torino, Italy, and making them available in the Serbian market. The car has an attractive price point of 7,990 Euros and Serbian dealers are already accepting orders for it.

However, the big Italian car deal that will capitalize on the economies of scale is yet to come. Fiat will sell the Punto throughout the Balkans because Serbia has lined up deals to sell the car to Croatia, Bosnia, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Albania. Serbia also has a free-trade agreement with Russia and if assembled in Serbia, Punto’s future looks very profitable.

For this to happen, the government-owned Zastava conglomerate has to first restructure and spin-off its car unit. Then the unit has to get privatized at which point Fiat plans to take the stake in the company. There is some debate at the size of the stake as well as political pressure for government to hold a controlling one under pretext that it is a "strategic" industry.

Serbian Minister of International Economic Relations Milan Parivodic praised the Fiat deal and added that it is one of the many in the pipeline designed to transform Serbia into an economic center of the Balkans. Serbia aims to be "profitable, stable and hospitable for all investors" remarked Parivodic.

To achieve this aim, Serbia slashed taxes and ranks among the lowest corporate tax countries in the former Eastern bloc.

Critics, however, cite that tax policy is not a panacea of investor friendliness. Serbia is still plagued by corruption and a weak judicial system that either lacks laws or does not enforce them.

The effort of the economic team of the Finance Ministry has to be matched by the legislators in the parliament, critics say, or there is an opportunity cost. Serbian President Boris Tadic recently criticized the political scene of Serbia arguing that it has lost way too many chances to reform the country faster.

Serbian entrepreneurs, for example, still complain of a red tape in doing business and the red tape is driving numerous economic activities underground that results in lost revenue for the state.

Many Serbian small businessmen are eager to learn from the pros in the West and the “Days of Italy in Belgrade” was one such place.

Among the Italians visiting Belgrade was a delegation from the Marco region where entrepreneurship and small business is the driving engine of the economy.

"There is one business for every 8 civilians in Marco" says Luigi Minardi who headed the Marco delegation. "Our system of small and medium sized business is mutually networked and is revitalizing industry. Serbia is for us a strategic region of interest, especially to the Marco region, because of its geography and quality raw and human resources."

The Marco delegation signed a protocol of mutual cooperation with the Serbian Association of small and medium sized business.

Since the last "Days of Italy" Serbia’s export to Italy has risen by 120% and import by 42%. At 800 million Euros in trade between the two countries, both sides believe that there room to grow.

"The most important result is certainly the increased trade between Serbia and Italia," said the Italian Ambassador Antonio Zanardi Landi.

"Another result, which should not be neglected and cannot be expressed in terms of money, is that 900 Italian businessmen are returning to Italy with a much nicer idea of [Serbia] than the one they previously had." Ambassador Zanardi concluded.

That the intangible investment perception matters and is increased by successful business meetings of this sort was also attested after last year’s bankers meeting held in Belgrade.

According to the EBRD Vice-President, Fabricio Sakomani, last year’s bankers meeting held in Belgrade has been a crucial event that has swayed the investment perception of Serbia. Recently signed agreement with the EU that has initiated membership talks should also translate into increase in investment.

Uncertainties, however, loom.

First is the possible separation of Serbia’s partner Montenegro that wants to dissolve the union with its planned referendum on independence to be held sometimes in 2006. Then there is an uncertainty regarding Serbia’s Kosovo province where the predominantly Muslim Albanian majority demands independence and has alluded that it may be ready to use violence if it does not get it.

A possibility to unravel much of the reforms and future economic development of the region then depends on the political events that will soon take shape. For Serbian political reformers, there is not much to be gained by acquiescing to pressures to give up its Kosovo territory.

Autore articolo: M. Bozinovich

Link diretto all’articolo: Serbianna