Italian-India bilateral reached around $16bn in 2022
Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani has called for the formation of a Joint Working Group by Italy and India in strategic areas such as space, technology, defence, agriculture, etc. to follow up on the important developments under these areas.
Tajani, who is also Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, wants a review of the entire gamut of bilateral trade and economic relations between the two countries.
He met Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal who was on a two-day visit to Italy from 12 April 2023.
During the meeting, both Ministers expressed happiness over elevation of the bilateral relations to the level of Strategic Partnership following the recent state visit of the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to India.
The Ministers exchanged views on how the India-Italy trade & economic partnership can be leveraged for growth across diverse sectors.
They further expressed satisfaction at the high growth in bilateral trade between India and Italy, which has reached around US$16 billion in 2022 and resolved to expand it further.
Goyal briefed Tajani on the progress made on India-EU FTA negotiation.
The Ministers underlined the importance of achieving a free, balanced and fair Free Trade Agreement and hoped that it would be concluded soon.
They also agreed to the convening of the next session of the Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation (JCEC) in Rome in the last week of September 2023.
Goyal emphasized on enhancing the bilateral cooperation in the field of clean energy to achieve sustainability to mitigate the negative impact of climate change. He stated that developed countries make the low-cost climate financing and technology available to the developing countries to deal with the climate change issue effectively.
Goyal briefed Tajani about India’s G-20 priorities and extended an invitation to him for the G20 Trade Ministers Meeting in India in August 2023.
Tajani assured of his full support to make India’s G20 Presidency successful. fiinews.com
