Due to political and economic reforms implemented in the last decade, Serbia has made important progress in its transition agenda. Serbia’s increasing engagement with the international business community logically requires qualified personnel operating in business intermediary organisations, such as the Serbian Chamber of Commerce. The Serbian Chamber of Commerce approached Promofirenze - a long-standing partner of the Chamber – in order to deepen its knowledge on the provision of assistance to Serbian export oriented companies.

In the project framework, the staff of the Serbian Chamber had the opportunity to participate in two training sessions dedicated to upgrading their skills the development of marketing strategies, product characteristics, technical aspects, business contacts, e-communication tools, price and communication strategies. Additionally, the Chamber’s staff attended a seminar related to the EU Market Access Strategy. Lastly, three members of the staff of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce participated in a week-long secondment to Promofirenze, here they had the opportunity to both apply theoretical notions to concrete cases and to discuss the project’s result in the framework of a Roundtable with Italian experts.

Through specific core activities, the project has successfully upgraded the skills of the staff of the Serbian Chamber of Commerce on issues of internationalisation. The results of the projects are multiple. Firstly, the Chamber’s staff upgraded its knowledge about the trade rules between Serbia and the EU, so as be able to provide a valuable assistance to the Serbian enterprises willing to enter the EU market. Secondly, the study tour in Italy strengthened the collaboration between Promofirenze and the Serbian Chamber of Commerce and the representatives of the Chamber had the possibility to present to the Italian companies the investment opportunities in Serbia. Lastly, the material the Chamber has been provided with by Promofirenze is used in the daily work of the Chamber increasing the quality of its work.