Italy can be India’s landing base for Europe: Minister Adolfo Urso

Mumbai: Italian minister Adolfo Urso has said his country can be the "landing base" for India to access the European market.

In a similar way, India can act as the landing base for Italy, the European country’s minister for business and ‘Made in Italy’ told PTI here on Saturday.

Speaking on the sidelines of 93-year-old Italian ship Amerigo Vespucci’s call on Mumbai port and the Villaggio Italia exposition arranged to coincide with that, Urso also said “new geopolitical events” make it necessary to consolidate the lines of communication between the two countries.

“India can be for Europe the landing base in Asia in the great south-eastern Asian basin, and Italy can be for India the landing base in Europe, for the most significant and richest world market,” he said in an interview to PTI.

This line of communication passes through the Arabian peninsula which has a very important place in the economic realm, he added.

While this is a preferred line of commercial communication between the two continents of Asia and Europe, the same route can also double up as a significantly important line of connectivity in terms of data and information, Urso said.

“It is certainly the preferred main line of commercial communication between our continents, but it can also be the line of connectivity as regards the transport of data and therefore of information, on one side above the seas, maritime trade; on the other side under the seas, the connection lines that transport information and data,” he said.

He also stressed the need to take India-Italy ties beyond commerce, and pitched for greater cooperation in other areas such as scientific advancement, technology and industrial production.

The Vespucci’s call at Mumbai, the financial capital of India, is an attempt to get both the countries closer beyond commerce, the minister said.

Speaking about the USD 14 billion per year bilateral trade, Urso said there is a need to increase the volume.

“…we believe that at this stage we need to move to an industrial partnership, that is, to greater Indian investments in Italy to produce in Italy for the large and significant European market and also to greater Italian investments in India to make India the new and most important and significant production platform in Asia,” he said.