Tajani sees partnerships in technology-defence
Italy wants to invest more, export more and attract more investment from India, visiting Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation Antonio Tajani has told the ‘Italy-India Business, Science and Technology Forum’.
“Today, Italy and India are closer than ever. Our bilateral trade is over $14 billion, and we want to invest more in India, export more to India, and attract more Indian investments in Italy,” he delegates at the forum on 11 April.
“Italy and India are natural economic partners. Together we want to strengthen our cooperation for a partnership that looks at the future through higher education, innovation and research,” he underscored https://www.investindia.gov.in/.
Tajani stressed that the forum is part of the strategic partnership plan signed by both the governments. “India is an important country for stability in the Indo-Pacific region. Stability is crucial to strengthen the trade.”
He noted India is an economy with enormous potential, and we want to strengthen this cooperation https://digitalinasia.com/.
Innovation, AI, super computers, space technology, defence are a few sectors which have potential for joint partnerships and both countries should work to attract investments in these areas, he highlighted.
Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar said that the direction of India’s progress and capabilities of Italian industry make for a good combination. “Make In India, today offers a platform or pathway for that collaboration to unfold,” he added https://fieo.org/.
He further stated that India has been working with like-minded partners to build a resilient and trusted partnerships that we need now to address not only our economic but strategic priorities as well and for us, Italy ranks high in that list.
Dr Jaishankar also added that there are natural complementarities in many sectors including energy, transport, food processing, light engineering which both nations need to exploit. “Italy has the technologies and best practices that could make such collaboration more fruitful,” he asserted.
Dr Jaishankar stated that the landmark initiative of ‘India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor’, will create a global access for economics, energy resources and communications. “India is not just growing, the nature of growth itself undergoing a shift,” he added. “This is now a society focused on innovation and creativity where start-ups, AI, EVs, Drones, space and nano technologies are growing and will be the drivers of growth in future.”
Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal added that there is further scope for expansion in the bilateral trade between India and Italy if we work seamless with each other, encourage investments, promote businesses without roadblocks.
Goyal further stated that Indian economy is slated to grow from US$4 trillion to US$30-35 trillion by 2047, and India is compelled to deepen the engagement with the European Union https://www.commerce.gov.in/.
“There are untapped newer areas like fashion, luxury goods, food processing, pharmaceuticals, tourism, green technology, advanced manufacturing, automobiles,” he emphasized.
Goyal added that amidst all the global challenges that the world is experiencing, it is very reassuring to see the strength and depth of the Italy-India friendship.
“This forum is a very timely platform and a good opportunity for all of us to collectively resolve to implement the Joint Strategic Action plan 2025-29 launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in November of 2024,” said the Minister, adding, “It is a very forward-looking, ambitious and pragmatic roadmap with a strong focus on trade, investment, innovation https://sbi.com.in/.”
Tajani and Goyal also discussed the progress of the EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and emphasized the importance of prioritizing trade issues to streamline negotiations and deliver a commercially meaningful package to build resilient value chains to provide stability to business against emerging risks.
Sectors like pharma, textiles, industry 4.0 & technological collaboration, gems & jewellery, ship building, energy transition and agri-tech and food processing were highlighted as key areas of collaboration. Italy recognized the necessity of engaging with India as a strategic partner to diversify its trade relationships.
The trade barriers faced by exporters and investors were also discussed, with both sides agreeing to resolve such issues through continuous dialogue, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said. fiinews.com
