India, Italy to increase trade

Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma and Italian Minister for Economic Development Claudio Scajola exchange documents after signing the Minutes of Indo-Italian Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation at Udyog Bhawan in New Delhi on Monday.

India and Italy on Monday entered into an agreement to promote bilateral trade and investments.

The agreement was signed between Invest India, a joint venture firm between the government and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and the Italian National Agency for Inward Investment Promotion and Enterprise Development.

“I expect signing of this memorandum of understanding (MoU) will lead to more trade and investment between India and Italy,” Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said while addressing the largest ever Italian business delegation in India here. Mr. Sharma said the two countries had an immense potential to increase the $8-billion two-way trade.

On the occasion, Italian Minister of Economic Development Claudio Scajola said the businesses should explore trade opportunities, including scientific and technological cooperation in each other’s country. “Italy is happy to transfer knowledge, technology and innovation (to India),” he said adding that renewable energy, telecommunication, infrastructure, were some of the areas of interest in India.