Recognising India as an emerging market, Italy for the first time ever is sending a 280-member business delegation along with three top ministers to India.
The delegation led by Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini will reach Delhi on October 31 for a week-long visit. Besides the ministers of trade and defence, it will have representatives from all the sectors, including defence, automobiles, infrastructure and agri business.
At a business meet organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and its Italian counterpart Confindustria, the delegates will interact with industry captains and seek investments in various sectors. On the occasion, Ficci and Confindustria will also ink an agreement to formalise an Indo-Italian business forum. Besides, business leaders from across the spectrum will be felicitated for their contributions towards the strengthening of trade and economic ties between the two countries.
There will be minister-level meetings in defence, heavy industry, MSMEs, roads and highways, food processing and urban development.
The Italian defence minister?s visit comes at a time when India is set to open the commercial bids for the $10.4-billion deal for 126 Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA), in which Eurofighter is one of the shorlisted contenders. BAE Systems of the UK has a 33% stake in the Eurofighter consortium, while Italy?s Alenia Aeronautica, a subsidiary of Finmeccanica, has a 21% stake.
There will also be discussions on ?Indo-Italian Defence Cooperation: Opportunities for partnership and co-development in the framework of India?s offset policy?.
The delegates are expected to visit some states in the North-East to explore investment opportunities in areas like bamboo, rubber, handloom, food processing, silk and cotton and hold talks with the state governments and local entrepreneurs and investors. The delegates also plan to visit Tamil Nadu.
While Italy figures among India?s top five trading partners in the European Union, it is the 12th largest investor in India. Trade between India and Italy is likely to cross R60,000 crore in 2011-12 from the level of about R46,800 crore during the last fiscal.