The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani, chairs the High-Level Economic Dialogue and the Italy-India Business Forum in Brescia today, together with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal.
“Following on from the Business Forum I attended in New Delhi last April, the events in Brescia underscore Italy’s commitment to strengthening the excellent ties with India, a key country for our foreign policy, particularly in such a complex geopolitical scenario. It is crucial to provide our companies with an increasingly favourable framework to seize trade and investment opportunities, boosting trade flows and investments,” said the Minister.
Before launching the work of the High-Level Economic Dialogue and the Italy-India Business Forum, Tajani and Goyal will jointly visit the waste-to-energy plant in Brescia, operated by the A2A Group, one of Italy’s major players in the fields of energy transition and the circular economy.
The Business Forum will then focus on four priority areas of collaboration: Industry 4.0; transport; energy transition and circular economy; and space. The aim is to support the strengthening of bilateral relations by developing new opportunities for businesses and joint economic initiatives. Indeed, trade between Italy and India surpassed EUR 14 billion in 2024, with Italian exports growing by more than 30% over the past seven years.
“It is important to promote the value of our regions. For this reason, I have chosen the city of Brescia, the sixth largest province in Italy in terms of export vocation, with EUR 20 billion worth of exports in 2024 alone,” Tajani declared, adding that “hosting the Business Forum at the Museo di Santa Giulia, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, is an international recognition of Italian excellence.”
The Economic Dialogue and the Italy-India Business Forum will also be attended by senior representatives from business associations and government agencies from both countries, including Confindustria, ITA, CDP, SACE, SIMEST, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the Italy-India Association for Cooperation between the two countries.
