Boris Tadic, the presidential candidate of the 'Choice for a Better Life' coalition, met with Geox Shoes founder Mario Polegato in the southern Serbian city of Nis Friday for a discussion about the company's plans to invest in Serbia.

After the meeting, Tadic said he found it was especially important that the plans for investment considered parts of Serbia that had not had had enough investment before.

Nis is one of the cities, Tadic said, but the list includes Sombor, Becej, Kikinda, and other municipalities.

Tadic said that Geox and Serbia had been talking about the internationalization of the company's production in the country for years, adding that he was hoping that the company would decide on the method of doing business in Serbia very soon.

This applies not only to production, but also to plans to expand the sales network, said Tadic, adding that the desire of the Serbian government is to move the production of Diadora, a sports equipment company that Geox had acquired, to Serbia.

Polegato said that Tadic had done a lot for Serbia, that he had brought it closer to Europe, and that he was greatly appreciated in Italy for that.

He wished Tadic to win the elections and Serbia to become part of the EU as soon as possible.

Geox, the second in the world by production and sales of footwear, plans to open a manufacturing plant in Nis and employ 500 workers there.