On December 20, the Chamber of Italian-Serbian Businessmen celebrated 20 years of work together with the Italian-Serbian business community, representatives of the institutions of both countries, members and friends of the Chamber
On this occasion, CCIS organized a gala dinner at the beautiful Crowne Plaza Hotel in Belgrade, where proceeds were donated to the Institute for the Protection of Mother and Child Health of Serbia „Dr. Vukan Čupić“, to the department of hemato-oncology”.
The President of the Chamber of Commerce, Annino De Venezia, began his speech by greeting the attendees, thanking the other members of the Italian system, such as the Embassy, ICE and Confindustria for the fruitful cooperation that marked these twenty years, he also expressed his gratitude to the presidents who preceded him, the Administrative board, the team of the Chamber and above all the members who have been supporting the Chamber for years. Also he presented the extremely positive results achieved this year and emphasized the will to continue with increasing involvement, in order to enable increasing economic and business exchange between Italy and Serbia.
The Ambassador of Italy, His Excellency, Luca Gori, who was unable to participate in the event in person due to institutional obligations, wished to send his congratulations and greetings in a virtual way, stressing that the governments of both countries want to promote economic cooperation in the coming year.
Also, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economy Darko Mitrović presented the award “G.M. Leonardi” to Dragan Filipović, general director of Generali osiguranje, for his contribution to employment, continuous investments aimed at increasing the quality of life, as well as for his commitment to preserving health in Serbia, all thanks to the “Safety Net” project, which aims to support refugees, newborns and families with small children.
Six other companies also received awards in the category for their continued commitment to the improvement of bilateral relations between the two countries, dedication, and valorization of association networking.
The Loyalty Award went to Confindustria Udine and the Color Media Communications company for their support to the Chamber over the years and for numerous joint projects.
The Woman Manager of the Year award was given to the director of the Gi Group company, Bisera Gajić, for her fifteen years of experience in the development and implementation of HR solutions for various international and domestic companies operating in several countries, primarily because she led various projects that received various awards for designing new strategies.
The “Italian Style” award went to the company APG Balkan. This year, the company opened a new factory where it can complete the covering and finishing of semi-finished products printed in Italy. Social responsibility, sustainability, accuracy, transparency and equality: these are the main values of the company and the way it deals with its work every day.
A1 Serbia was awarded for eco-sustainability, because not only is it the fastest mobile network, but it also loves the planet and has ambitious goals: to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. The company also supported the “Plant life together” program aimed at elementary school children, which aims to build the first organic garden from which food of controlled origin will be donated to children who are being treated for oncological diseases.
And the award of the institutions of Serbia was awarded to the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia, for its efforts to make Serbia a recognizable market economy country, with investment opportunities, open borders and ready to join European flows in a competitive way.
During the dinner, representatives of the Italian and Serbian business community, representatives of the Italian Embassy and institutions and protagonists of public life and world culture had the opportunity to enjoy a menu carefully designed with the aim of combining Serbian and Italian cuisine, made with products from both countries. They also had the opportunity to taste wines from the Deurić winery.
The CCIS gala evening was supported by renowned companies and friends of the Chamber: Generali osiguranje, law firm Nikolić and Stanković, Aunde SRB, Deurić winery, National Foundation for the Artistic Game, Vibac Balcani, Banca Intesa, Fercam, DDOR osiguranje – Unipol Grupa and Jugotub.