Italy seeks increased trade with India

CHANDIGARH - Italy is keen to increase its trade with India and is focusing on forming joint ventures with Indian enterprises in fields like agro products, renewable energy, health care and education, its envoy to India said here Tuesday.

“There has been a remarkable growth in the bilateral trade between India and Italy. Presently there is an annual exchange of business worth $8 billion between the two countries, which is quite high if we compare it with past years,” Italian Ambassador Roberto Toscano told reporters here.

“The target is to increase this trade to $ 10 billion. This is not a far-fetched aim and we are already working in this direction. Investment in India from Italy and vice-versa is very important. There are around 30 Indian companies who have invested in Italy and they are doing extremely well,” he said.

Toscano was here to attend an interactive seminar organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.

Satish Bagrodia, president of PHD Chamber of Commerce, said: “We need to accelerate our efforts for the growth of bilateral economic cooperation, particularly in view of the current economic scenario.”

“There is need for greater synergy between the business communities of both the countries. There is a huge untapped potential in the field of small and medium scale industries that is the backbone of both countries,” he added.