By IANS
Kolkata : Despite improving economic ties between Italy and India, Italian foreign direct investment (FDI) to India is not so encouraging, Ambassador of Italy to India Antonio Armellini said.
“Unfortunately, the increase of FDI between India and Italy has not been as significant as the development of trade,” Antonio Armellini told reporters in an interaction here Monday.
He said that according to figures, India has attracted about $65 billion FDI between August 1991 and November 2007. Of this, only $560 million of equity inflow came from Italy.
“Italy ranks at number 11 in the list of foreign investors in India,” he said.
The total Italian FDI in India between April 2006 and March 2007 was about $56 million, while France’s investment was $123 million, Germany’s $139 million and Britain’s $1.9 billion during the same period.
“We are seriously looking into this particular segment to increase Italian FDI to India and vice versa. There are certain sectors like agro-based industry, communication, urban development and infrastructure that we are interested to enter,” Armellini said, adding that at the same time Italy also welcomed participation of Indian counterparts in its sectors.
Bilateral trade between India and Italy was $6.5 billion in 2006-07 with an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year. A target has been set to increase this figure to $10 billion by the end of the current financial year ending March 31.
“Currently, we are trying to implement a first track procedure to facilitate Indian business communities who want to go to Italy with trade interests. This apart, our Italian Trade Commission office in Kolkata is involved in developing bilateral trade relationship,” he said.
Italian Trade Commission office in Kolkata was launched December 2007 to bridge the gap between economic activities of India and Italy.