INTERVIEW
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WE LOOK TO FUTURE COOPERATION WITH GREAT OPTIMISM IGOR MIROVIĆ
Head of the Vojvodinian Government
I think that Serbia has laid an extremely good foundation for economic growth in the coming period e talked with Igor Mirović, the head of the Vojvodinian Government, about the cooperation between Italian businesses and Vojvodina, the cooperation agreement signed with the Lombardy region three years ago, the improvement of cooperation and the efforts that Serbia is constantly making to improve conditions for doing business.
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Focus
ITALY 2021
In 2018, Vojvodina and Lombardy signed a cooperation agreement. How would you rate that cooperation and its importance today?
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In 2018, the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina signed an agreement with Lombardy, one of the most developed Italian and European regions. The fact that Lombardy is one of the most developed Italian and European regions is a strong signal and reliable sign of Vojvodina's intention to use experiences, knowledge, models and examples from the truly efficient practice of organizing primarily economic activities, but also all other areas of life in Lombardy. The most important issues cov-
ered by the agreement relate to economic cooperation, connecting the respective chambers of commerce and businesses and attracting direct investments. In that sense, immediately after the Agreement was signed, we established several contacts, agreed upon
I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT WE ARE INTERESTED IN AN EVEN STRONGER PRESENCE OF ITALIAN BUSINESSES IN VOJVODINA individual projects and presented Vojvodina in Lombardy. Although the Covid-induced crisis, which has been going on for a year and a half and which first emerged on European soil in Lombardy, has slowed down our cooperation, we are very optimistic about it in the future and have new projects on our common agenda.
In February, you spoke with the President of the Lombardy Region, Attilo Fontana. What are the highlights of the conversation? We exchanged views on the current situation related to the fight against the Covid-19 virus, but also underlined the importance of cooperation. We had an agreed appearance at one of the most important Italian trade fairs, in Verona, where we would promote our achievements in viticulture and winemaking which unfortunately fell through. That would have been a great occasion to meet Mr. Fontana and his associates. The crisis has delayed our plan to meet as early as May or June, but we are indeed constantly in touch. Over the past week, Mr. Fontana's associates and my associates have discussed a whole range of issues. The conclusions are very concrete - to continue nurturing contacts, to connect our respective development agencies, to establish closer cooperation between scientific institutes and to find additional topics of common interest during our frequent contacts. During my stay in Milan, Lombardy, I
