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NT Bureau
Chennai, Feb 9:

        On a fact-finding mission to Southern India, a three-member Italian delegation held talks with city chambers of commerce to explore the possibility of joint ventures and technical collaborations with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to achieve economy of scale.

        'We are targeting the subcontractors and suppliers from India for our firms in Italy. Just like geographic clusters in our provinces, there is an emergence of sector-based cluster enterprises in South India. We are studying the markets for us to share expertise and knowledge in many sectors of industries,' said Gianni Fiaccadori, an official from the Italian Trade Commission, Rome.

        He was speaking at an interactive session organised by the Hindustan Chamber of Commerce (HCC) for the visiting delegates from Italy recently. Fiaccadori said the members of the Consortium from the Province of Frosinone (CTM) were interested to forge long-term partnerships with Indian firms involved in sub-contracting high tech products and components. 'We are looking for developing joint ventures in select industries by sharing our knowledge which would help us to address larger markets here and in Europe,' he said.

        As the cost of manpower was too high in Italy, outsourcing some of the manufacturing activities in India was being explored with interest by Italian firms, especially in the small and medium enterprises, he said. Giving an outline on CTM, Antonella Bianchi, a representative from that chamber, said the province of Frosinone was strategically located between Rome and Naples and exported most of its products and services to Europe. 'In the last 40 years, industry in Frosinone has got diversified and adopted modern technology in machinery, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, furniture, clothing and marble, among others,' she said. Though formed 10 years ago, CTM had played a key role in the growth of SMEs in mechanical, electronics, plastics and rubber segments in that province. However, 60 per cent of the turnover for Italian suppliers came from just one or two of their prime buyers and hence there was a need to free the resources of these SMEs through widening the clientele, said the Italian delegates.

        In his address, G Subramanian, president, HCC, said the pilot trip of Italian delegation to build trade relationship and ventures in manufacturing as come at an appropriate time, even as India was embarked on globalisation of its economy. 'Their interest to track our process adopted in manufacturing is welcome. Both Indian and Italy can have steady progress, once the mutual benefits for both sides are established,' he said.

        The Italian team also interacted with members of the Andhra Chamber of Commerce during their stay in Chennai. During his address, Baboolal Rathore, president, Andhra Chamber of Commerce, said that political and trade relations between India and Italy were traditionally friendly. Both countries shared fundamental values of democracy, civil liberties, human rights, rule of law and free press. It was this fundamental affinity that has helped to strengthen cooperation between the two sides, which has further improved the relations in different fields including trade, Rathore pointed out.

        Also, Italian delegates held a tete-a-tete with ACC members to evaluate opportunities in business, like imports, exports and joint ventures with their Indian counterparts.