Office of Friuli Venezia Giulia region opened in Novi Sad

The office of Italian region of Friuli Venezia Giulia was opened yesterday (May 11, 2009) in Novi Sad, and it is going to be the official representative office of that region, which has signed the Agreement on cooperation with Vojvodina.

The Vice President of the Executive Council of Vojvodina, Ivana Dulić-Marković, said on that occasion that Vojvodina had tens of signed agreements with European regions, but that the analyses showed that the cooperation had been developed with only 5% of them.

- That is why this event is so important for both Vojvodina and Serbia – said Dulić-Marković and expressed hope that the cooperation with the Italian region would contribute to development of the whole country.

Regional Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources, Klaudio Violino, said that that office would become the home of the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, and he invited all those interested to contribute to strengthening of economic cooperation and overall relations between the two regions.

- This is the first step on the path we intend to develop in order to close the gap in all forms of cooperation between the two regions – said Violini.

The head of the delegation of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Antonio Pedicini, said that the aims of that region were in accord with the aims of Vojvodina – strengthening of economy and industrial development.

He estimated that Vojvodina’s autonomy within Serbia and specific features of the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia within Italy represented healthy base for future cooperation.

The CEO of the Office for European Affairs of the Executive Council of Vojvodina, Predrag Novikov, said that we should expect the focus of cooperation between the two regions to be on agriculture and scientific-technical cooperation.

- There are many Italian investors who want to improve production in Vojvodina. I hope for investments in agriculture and energy in 2009 because we have plenty of unexploited potential in these sectors – said Novikov and estimated that the opening of the office would create enough space for other regions in Serbia.