Federlegnoarredo in Serbia - Chance for domestic wood-processing industry

Italian business association Federlegnoarredo, which consists of over 3,000 wood-processing companies and furniture makers, has officially presented to the public its sixth branch office in the world - the Belgrade desk. Its main role is to connect Serbian and Italian companies within this association. As we were told, some members of this association even consider investing in Serbia's wood-processing industry.

At the presentation of their new office, Federlegnoarredo representatives pointed out that the Belgrade desk has no commercial role and will instead be responsible for mapping the markets of Serbia and all other former Yugoslav republics as well as other countries in the region.

Roberto Cuneo, director of the promotion sector, says that they were attracted to the Serbian capital because of its political and economic influence in this part of Europe and "great manpower that won't cost a lot".

- Serbia is not a big market, you all know that - Roberto Cuneo says in a talk with eKapija.

- However, we have to pay attention to opportunities that can be found all across Italy, which is why Belgrade can be important for both Serbian market and the entire region - Cuneo points out.

Branka Bosnjak, a member of parliament and architect, has been appointed as the Head of Federlegnoarredo's Belgrade desk. She says that one of their main tasks will be to levelize the prices of Italian products in our market.

- When you have a trader selling one or two brands, they can keep their prices unchanged due to lack of competition. The purchase power of our citizens is relatively low, and our wish is to bring middle-class Italian products, not those in the highest class, closer to our citizens in some way and make it more affordable - Branka Bosnjak says in a talk with eKapija.

Bosnjak adds that some members of this Italian association have expressed interest in investing in the Serbian wood-processing industry.

- Several companies are interested in sawmills in Serbia. They buy our raw materials here, but it is much easier to buy a processed product, which would require production modernization and new hires - says Bosnjak.

Attendees of this event were also addressed by Roberto Migotto, president of the Federlegnoarredo Executive Board, and Nebojsa Petkovic, an architect at the ZAP company which exhibited its project to organize the residential and business space in New Belgrade's Block 67a at Made Expo in Milan. This expo is organized every year by Federlegnoarredo.