Italy to push agro-technology cooperation with India

Monday, 28 June 2004, 19:30 IST
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ROME: Italy is keen to cooperate with India in agriculture and related technology, Italian officials told a visiting Indian delegation. Dell'Elce, under secretary in the Italian ministry for productive activities, told a delegation of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), led by its vice-president Y.C. Deveshwar, that Rome appreciated New Delhi's respect for trademarks and patents. This, Dell'Elce said, was an important issue for Italy, which prides itself on its technology and design, and fears unlawful imitation and copying by countries that do not follow the rules of patents and trademarks, a statement by the Indian embassy here said. Indian embassy officials said the CII delegation first held meetings here and then went to Bologna in central Italy, which has a conglomeration of Italian machinery makers interested in dealing with Indian companies. The delegation interacted with members of the Confederation of Small and Medium Scale Industries of Italy and Federalimentare, the apex body of Italian companies in the food and beverage sector. They also met the Federation of Italian Mechanical and Engineering Industry Association, an agency dealing with machinery for meat and meat products, and the National Association of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers. The CII delegation specifically sought Italian participation in the Agro Tech 2004 fair to be held in Chandigarh in December. Embassy officials said collaboration in agricultural technology holds much promise with many Italian companies already partnering with their Indian counterparts to make machinery and machine parts. They said despite the overall Italian exports growing by just one percent last year, the country's exports to India were up six percent. Indian exports to Italy too registered a six percent growth last year. The lure of the Indian market that can be tapped by technology transfers and joint ventures between Indian and Italian companies was emphasised by the CII delegation. Other members of the delegation included Ramesh C. Jain, chief executive of Eicher Goodearth, Gokul Patnaik, chairman of Global Agri Systems, L.N. Balaji, head of strategic planning with ITC and Pikender Pal Singh, deputy director with CII.
Source: IANS
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