'Italy keen on bolstering trade ties with Bengal'

kolkata: At a time when the Mamata Banerjee government is taking all possible initiatives for growth and development in industry and commerce sector, Italy has identified Bengal as a prospective state for carrying out more trade in leather, textile, food processing and MSME sector.

A delegation comprising top brass along with experts of the Italian Embassy in India will be visiting the state in November for further discussions in the areas of trade, knowledge and technology sharing. A senior officer said they call such visits as 'technical mission.'

Italian Ambassador Vincenzo de Luca held a telephonic conversation with the state Finance minister Amit Mitra followed by a meeting with Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi and some other senior officers of the concerned department in this regard at Nabanna on Monday.

Sources at the state Secretariat also confirmed that Francesco Varriale of the office of Innovation and Internationalisation of the embassy in New Delhi and Italian consul general in Kolkata Gianluca Rubagotti also attended the meeting.

On Tuesday, the team headed by the Italian Ambassador also held a meeting with the state government officials in West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC).

"They are very much interested in leather, textile, food processing and MSME. They have shown interest to further cooperate towards technological advancement, export and import of both goods and machineries," said a senior state government officer.

More discussions would take place in this regard once the state government offices reopen after the Durga Puja vacation before the visit of the delegation of the Italian Embassy.

Italy is the leading country in leather, textile and fashion industry. Italy is a major market for leather goods that gets exported from India. It needs to be mentioned that 28 delegates from Italy had attended the Bengal Global Business Summit in 2019. The leather and textile industry in Bengal is also booming. Several new units have come up at Bantala Leather Complex in Kolkata. Another 200 tanneries are coming up at Bantala leather Complex, creating 2.5 lakh job opportunities.