Begovic: Innovation, new technologies promising field of cooperation with Italy

BELGRADE - Serbian Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation Jelena Begovic said on Wednesday she expected to see continued good cooperation with Italy as part of the EU's Horizon Europe research and development programme.

She said Serbia and Italy had signed an agreement on scientific and technological cooperation, ratified in 2013, and that such agreements enabled implementation of bilateral scientific and mobility programmes, including the Grande Relevanza programme of bilateral cooperation, Begovic's ministry said in a statement.

"Talks about announcements of new bilateral projects are underway right now," Begovic said during an online event on cooperation with Italy as part of Horizon Europe, hosted by the Italian embassy in Belgrade and the Italian Agency for the Promotion of European Research in collaboration with the Serbian Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation.

Begovic noted that, in parallel, Serbian universities had also developed strong cooperation with Italian universities and scientific institutions.

She also said an upcoming Serbia-Italy business forum would highlight IT, artificial intelligence and inter-university cooperation to boost cooperation between the two countries.

Italian Ambassador Luca Gori also noted the significance of the forum and the cooperation between Italy and Serbia.

He said bilateral relations would be deepened further and that the Italian president would attend the opening of the forum.

"Italy will continue to provide strong support to Serbia," Gori also said.