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Italy too smitten by India's IT power

Our Bureau

MUMBAI, June 12

SVILUPPO Italia, the Italian national development agency for the Mezzogiomo and other less developed areas in Italy, has invited Indian IT companies to invest in the country.

The agency, along with the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised a seminar here on Tuesday on `Attracting Foreign Investments in Italy with special focus on the ICT sector'.

Speaking at the seminar, Dr Eutimio Tiliacos, Director, Foreign Investment, Sviluppo Italia said the agency could underwrite equity of newly formed companies in Italy up to 30 per cent. It could also assist Indian companies in finding Italia IT partners and help solve problems relating to language, administration and law, he added.

Dr Tiliacos welcomed investments by Indian companies in Italy, particularly in Southern Italy which has the highest concentration of electronics industry in regions such as Catania, Naples and Bari. According to him, Indian companies could use the Italia n market as a base to penetrate the European market.

Citing advantages of the Italian industry, he said that Italy had the lowest labour costs and the second highest productivity in industry in Europe.

He also assured Indian companies that difficulties faced by Indian professionals in obtaining visas work permits was in the process of being sorted out.

Mr T.C. Venkat Subramaniam, Chairman Exim Bank, who also spoke at the seminar, felt that with the shortage of 12,500 technology workers in Italy, the country represented a huge market for Indian IT professionals.

Tata Infotech's Dr Nirmal Jain added that Europe and Japan were the key areas for expansion for the Indian industry and identified various areas for collaboration between India and Italy including communications, banking and multimedia.