How do you look back on the historical Indo-Italian business ties, which are more than 75 years old? What are the high points of this relationship?
Italy has always played an important role for India, in the industrial processes of change in the Indian economy. Since the 1950s and ’60s, companies like Fiat and Piaggio have been part of India’s industrial transformation and innovation. Now, this relationship is becoming more and more important because India is going to tackle the challenges of energy transition, innovation and sustainability, and Italy wants to contribute to the policy of becoming self-reliant in these areas by sharing technology with Indian partners and companies. So, this is the beginning of a new strategic relationship in economic collaboration, technology and innovation. Today, we have identified some priority areas such as infrastructure, machinery, engineering and food processing, which are also the priorities of the Indian government.

What kind of targets would you like to be set for Indo-Italian business collaborations?
We have already achieved a historic record of bilateral trade of €10.4 billion last year that has made Italy become the third largest trade partner in Europe. But I think we can do even more, both in terms of trade and in terms of investment in some strategic sectors like agriculture and food processing machinery, leather and textile machinery, engineering equipment, etc. I think we can do more in all these areas through exchange of technology, we can promote investment and also develop partnership between small and medium-sized enterprises in Italy and India, because we need more presence in the Indian market. We also need to work in areas such as trading and after-sales for developing closer proximity to the market. Also, we need to have a platform here for re-export of machinery and components because India can become a hub for Asia.