Ajit Karn
The Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, meets with the Italian Minister of Enterprises, Adolfo Urso, to discuss a variety of topics of mutual interest. Minister Urso was accompanied by his Deputy Minister Valentino Valentini and other senior officials. Minister Goyal was accompanied by senior officials and a high-level business delegation headed by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
During the recent visit of Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, to India, both ministers emphasized the elevation of bilateral relations to a strategic partnership. Goyal highlighted India’s inspiring development story, which includes youth power, digitization, and financial inclusion of its aspirational 140 billion population.
He also highlighted India’s accomplishments in clean energy to combat the effects of climate change, noting that 40 percent of India’s installed capacity of renewable energy in 2021 has been reached, and that India has set an ambitious objective of generating 500 GW by 2030.
He stated that the Indian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, initiated the Make in India initiative in order to transform India into a manufacturing hub for high-quality products with zero side effects and zero defects. He stated that India aspires to become a developed nation by 2047 by multiplying its current USD 3.5 trillion economy over the next 25 years.
Goyal also briefed Minister Urso on India’s USD 1.4 trillion investment to construct world-class infrastructure under the national infrastructure pipeline. Both ministers acknowledged the complementarities and synergies between the Make in India and Made in Italy initiatives, and they encouraged the business communities of India and Italy to invest in each other’s markets and to exchange information on innovation and technology.
Minister Urso stated that the two nations should collaborate in the fields of space, defense, information technology, energy, and agriculture. He stated that India and the EU should have a free trade agreement that is fair and equitable.
Goyal extended Minister Urso an invitation to visit India.
A CII-led business delegation met with Minister Urso and his colleagues and had fruitful discussions. Both Ministers emphasized the need for greater collaboration and cooperation in order to maximize the enormous potential of the two large economies.
In the evening, Goyal conferred with Matteo Salvini, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility for the Italian government. Both parties emphasized the importance of encouraging investments in the field of sustainable mobility.
Goyal advocated for increased Italian investments in dedicated freight corridors, ports, airports, and high-speed railway lines, while highlighting the Indian government’s flagship initiatives, PM GatiShakti and National Infrastructure Pipeline.
He mentioned the USD 1.40 trillion budgeted for infrastructure development in India. Regarding the issue of sustainability, Goyal emphasized the government’s commitment to expanding its renewable energy capacity in order to create a more sustainable and low-carbon economy. Vice-Prime Minister Salvini indicated a desire to travel to India to observe the country’s tremendous infrastructure development progress.
He also discussed the signature project of constructing the longest suspension bridge in the world to connect Sicily to the mainland. Culture, cuisine, languages, and films, according to Goyal, play a significant role in promoting people-to-people contact and are the primary factors in promoting soft power diplomacy between the two countries.
Also read this:Cybersecurity alert: “Hacktivist Indonesia” claims to attack12000 indian website
During his two-day-long stay in Rome, Goyal had meetings and interactions with two Deputy PMs, Tajani and Salvin, a cabinet minister, Urso, three Deputy Ministers, Cirielli, Silli and Valentini, Vice President of the Italian Senate, Sen. Gaspari, President of India-Italy Friendship Group, Sen Terzi, eight Parliamentarians and almost hundred Chairmen, MDs, CEOs and Heads of business and trade associations from diverse sectors. In addition, there were eight one-on-one meetings with the heads and CEOs of leading Italian corporations.
