Italy to spend 10 million Euros for India business promotion

Kolkata, Feb 13: Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacherjee today identified three major areas to take bilateral trade between Italy and West Bengal to "a new height".

Addressing the concluding session of a two-day Indo-Italian business session here the visiting prime minister said his government had earmarked ten million Euros for the promotion of Italian business in West Bengal and other parts of India by the small and medium sector enterprises till next year.

Mr Prodi showered accolades on West Bengal for its "rapid economic growth under the dynamic leadership of Mr Bhattacherjee".

Referring to the close socio-cultural ties between Italy and India,particularly with West Bengal for several decades now,Mr Prodi said his countrymen had "great respect for Rabindranath Tagore, Mahatma Gandhi and their culture of peace and harmony" and on the basis of that the two-way trade had been developing 'quite satisfactorily'.

He said during his hour long meeting with the chief minister today they had identifed food processing,leather and gems and jewellery as the three emerging sectors where Italian technologies and expertise could be utilised for mutual benefits.

Referring to his visit to Chennai and Bangalore Mr Prodi,also the former President of the European Commission,said after making their presence felt in the 'domestic European market' of 500 million people, they were now looking towards India to be a part of the vast global market.

"India is not only an important part of the global business strategy of Italy,but is also being considered as the humane bridge to Europe," Mr Prodi pointed out.

Earlier,a visibly happy chief minister said the visit had resulted in encouraging investment opportunity and introduction of technological innovation in leather and several other sectors by the Italians. Mr Bhattacherjee had led a 20-member business delegation to Italy in 2003.

"I also welcome the Italian Trade Commission's decision to open its Kolkata branch very soon and the extension of a grant of one million Euros for the setting up of a leather technology and tanning training centre at the proposed Bantala Leather Complex here by this year end," Mr Bhattacherjee said.

Referring to the current visit of the 417-member Italian business delegation under Mr Prodi's leadership,representing more than 350 companies from the SME sector, the chief minister expressed his happiness at the general outcome of about 2,000 B-to-B meetings held yesterday between Italian entrepreneurs and their Indian counterparts in more than 100 different areas. He also thanked the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI)for successfully organising the meeting.

West Bengal Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen and Italian Minister for International Trade Emma Bonino recounted the economic growth of West Bengal and Italy. Mr Sen claimed that despite limitations West Bengal had been able to achieve more than 11.2 per cent growth in Information Technology, 9.2 per cent in manufacturing and over five per cent in agriculture during the past few years and was now being considered as the second most attractive destination for overseas investors.

Ms Bonino elaborated the huge export opportuinity before her country in engineering,leather, pharmaceuticals, automobile and the component sectors in India. "It is like a new door has been flung open for us by the Indians and we should be ready to enter through it to grab far bigger chances to help take the volume of two way trade to more than ten billion Euros by 2009 from only about 4.6 billion Euros now," she pointed out.

Among others President of Italian Small Industry Confidestria Giuseppe Morandini and Director General ABI Giuseppe Zadra,immediate past President of FICCI Saroj Poddar and FICCI Secretary General Ashok Mitra addressed the gatheirng.

Incidentally,during the two day visit of the largest ever Italian business delegation to the city(as well as in the country)at least four MoUS were signed between Indian and Italian entrepreneurs in anti-pollutant machine tools,leather,food processing and film sectors.

Later in the afternoon the Italian delegation is scheduled to leave for Mumbai on the fourth leg of the tour which would end with a two-day visit in New Delhi where the prime ministers of both the countries would sign some more agreements at the national level.

UNI