(ANSA) - BELGRADE, DECEMBER 4 - Trade between Italy and Serbia is growing and could reach a record value of 4bn euros at the end of 2018, said Italy's ambassador to Belgrade Carlo Lo Cascio. ''The economic and commercial relations between Serbia and Italy are excellent'', said the ambassador on the sidelines of the General Assembly of Confindustria Serbia, last night in Belgrade. The value of Italian investment in Serbia, added the Cascio, amounts to 2.5-3 billion euros, and over 400 Italian companies operating in Serbia employ about 25,000 people. A positive trend, the ambassador underlined, is also recorded in investment from Italy, with numerous companies already active in Serbia that are expanding their business in the Balkan country. ''A new Italian factory opens in Serbia every month '', said Lo Cascio, whereas the head of the EU delegation in Belgrade Sem Fabrizi remarked the close economic and commercial ties linking Serbia to the European Union, which the ex-Yugoslavian country intends to join. ''The reforms in Serbia are going ahead'', said Fabrizi, citing in particular the steady growth of the GDP, the decline in public debt and the reduction in the unemployment rate. (ANSA).