Dr Francesco Pensabene, the Italian Trade Commissioner of the Embassy of Italy to India, spoke to The Sunday Guardian exclusively on the growing trade partnership between Italy and India. Excerpts:
Q. How does Italy see the Indian market in terms of Italian products, particularly in terms of fashion and design?
A. For Italian design companies, the Indian market is enormous. The potential of India is fantastic and this country is very important for us. Joint ventures and trade cooperation, are great opportunities for both the countries, but of course we have to segment and separate. Last year in March, we organised a fashion show with important Italian fashion brands in India. We are doing a fantastic work with India and we can engage even more.
Q. Besides fashion and design, how do you look at the Indian market?
A. India is a fantastic market. We are the fourth largest trade partners to India among the European Union members. The amount of trade exchange between Italy and India was 7.5 billion euros in 2016. From industrial machinery to ICT (Information and Communication Technology), to the automobile sector to design, and from fashion to food, there is a lot of space in India to export.
Q: What impact could Brexit have on the trade relations between India and European Union members, if any?
A. Brexit has been important but I don’t think that it has a strong impact on trade relations between India and Italy or so to say it does not have any negative impact on our trade relations. Italian companies must understand that India has become one of the strongest and the fastest growing economies in the world. So we must be here, we must invest in India with the pillars of made in Italy.
Q. With the present government in power trying to reach out to various countries, how do you think this government is performing?
A. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government is doing a fantastic job. The series of programmes launched by this government, which includes the Make in India programme, Skill India, and Digital India programmes, are a fantastic series of programmes by the government and this is a great opportunity for us to do better in this country. Apart from these, this government has also given a boost to other sectors like infrastructure; smart city projects, technology, IT and we must involve and contribute to these schemes of the government. I think we have great opportunities to strengthen and boost trade ties between the Italian and Indian companies and governments.