In the agri-food sector, the Hungarian Ovarte was awarded.

Ten foreign entrepreneurial excellences were the protagonists of the fifteenth stage of “Imprese Vincenti”, the Intesa Sanpaolo program for the valorization of SMEs, which in this fifth edition included for the first time an event entirely dedicated to the best companies from the economic and cultural context of Eastern Europe that have distinguished themselves for their ability to innovate and grow.

To accelerate the development of an international supply chain capable of both attracting foreign investments in our country and further enhancing Made in Italy in the world, Intesa Sanpaolo has further strengthened the synergies between the International Banks and Banca dei Territori Divisions, respectively led by Paola Papanicolaou and Stefano Barrese . With this in mind, the leading Italian banking group has confirmed and renewed its commitment to supporting the growth of Italian and foreign companies with the aim of increasing their competitiveness.

Today's event, organized in collaboration with Visa, for Intesa Sanpaolo saw the participation of the aforementioned Barrese and Papanicolaou , head of the International Banks Division, together with Gregorio De Felice , chief economist. Roberto Frazzitta , Global Head of Banking Sector - Senior Partner Bain & Company, spoke after the presentation of the 10 foreign “Winning Companies”, examples of a sustainable and innovative corporate culture: Ovartej (Mosonmagyaróvár - Hungary) active in the agri-food sector, Aunde (Jagodina - Serbia) and Cecomp (Mirna Pec - Slovenia) operate in the automotive sector, Diva Divani (Vranje - Serbia) in furniture and design, Gena Logistik (Bratislava - Slovakia) in construction, Dprint Europe (Tirana - Albania) specializes in packaging, Walter Tosto (Bucharest - Romania) works in the industrial sector, Hipac Romania (Dragomiresti-Vale - Romania) in plastics, Ediltec (Lepoglava - Croatia) in production, and Seka Hydropower (Burrel - Albania) in energy services.

“In this edition, Imprese Vincenti is extending its research mission to include the excellence of foreign SMEs that are able to seize opportunities on international markets,” said Barrese . “These companies share with our business system the ability to invest in innovation and sustainability. The Central-South Eastern European market is among those with the highest growth potential for our companies in terms of exports, with a 34% increase between 2019 and 2023. Today, for Intesa Sanpaolo, enhancing Italian and foreign SMEs means expressing support for intragroup synergies, accompanying the development of Italian companies active abroad and foreign companies operating in our country, creating connections in an increasingly profitable logic of export supply chains.”

“Today’s event celebrates the growing and significant contribution of Intragroup Synergies to strengthening Intesa Sanpaolo’s international presence, particularly in the regions of Central and South Eastern Europe served by the International Banks Division,” said Papanicolaou . “The rapid development of the economic and social fabric of the countries of Central and South Eastern Europe sees Italy as a reference Partner, a role demonstrated by commercial export flows to our country growing by over 44% in the period 2019-2023. In this context, Intesa Sanpaolo, with over 8 billion in financing provided by the International Banks Division, supports companies in their development path in favor of stable and sustainable growth.”