New Delhi: Indo-Italian bilateral trade is expected to double to 12 billion Euro (USD 17.5 billion) in the next five years, FICCI said ahead of the India-Italy Business Forum meetings in New Delhi and Mumbai.
"With deeper business engagement, trade between the two
countries is expected to double to 12 billion Euros in the
next five years," industry chamber FICCI said.
The volume of Indo-Italian bilateral trade was 6.5
billion Euros (about USD 9.5 billion) in 2008.
An Italian business delegation led by Italian Minister
for Economic Development and Foreign Trade Claudio Scajola
will be in India for the meeting next week.
Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma is expected
to address the meetings in Delhi and Mumbai, FICCI said.
At the Delhi meeting FICCI in association with Yes Bank
will be launching a report titled 'India- Italy: New
Perspectives for Partnership,' the chamber said.
The report notes that as in any fledging relationship,
Indian and Italian companies will face a host of challenges in
doing business with one another.
"Apart from the institutional, regulatory and policy
challenges, Indian companies will have to contend with the
higher operating and workforce costs in Italy, stringent
labour regulations, an ageing workforce...," the report says.
At the Mumbai Business forum, Tata Group Chairman Ratan
Tata will be awarded the 'Grand Officer' rank of the Order of
Merit of the Italian Republic.
Likewise, Italian companies will face challenges in the
selection of a synergetic and strong local partner, legal
framework required for land acquisition, rehabilitation and
compensation process, and demand-supply mismatch of skilled
workers, the FICCI-Yes Bank report says.
However, the report mentions that there is tremendous
scope for co-operation between India and Italy on various
avenues such as food and energy security, infrastructure and
technology transfer.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, December 13, 2009, 12:51