Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani in New Delhi on Friday. During their discussions, the leaders touched upon a host of crucial aspects such as the strengthening oif bilateral trade and investment ties between the two sides. The meeting cemented India’s longstanding relationship with Italy. They also discussed at length ways to expand economic cooperation between both countries, exploring new avenues to advance this partnership.
Here are 10 key takeaways from the meeting:
- Both leaders acknowledged the relevance of India’s dynamic and fast-growing economy while emphasising the significance of diversifying trade relations and deepening economic ties to achieve growth and prosperity, according to an official statement.
- Deliberations also spanned key areas such as the progress of EU-India Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations.
- Both emphasised the importance of prioritising trade issues in order to streamline negotiations and to deliver a commercially meaningful package to build resilient value chains to provide stability to business against emerging risks, it noted.
- The development marks a significant step in boosting the Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029, agreed upon at PM level in November.
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- The action plan entails purposeful momentum, promoting smoother trade flows, nurturing investment opportunities, and achieving tangible outcomes, to put sides on a path of mutually beneficial and prosperous partnership.
- Key areas of potential collaboration that were discussed included pharmaceuticals, textiles, industry 4.0 and technological collaboration, gems and jewellery, ship building, energy transition, agricultural technology and food processing.
- Italy recognised the necessity of engaging with India as a strategic partner to diversify its trade relationships, the statement said.
- Both leaders also discussed a string of trade barriers that exporters and investors come across, agreeing to iron out such issues through continuous dialogue.
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- It is worth noting that the trade between the two sides was estimated at about $15 billion in 2023-2024.
- FDI from Italy into India was estimated at about $4 billion since the year 2000.
