Vespucci wins over the public and investors in Mumbai

(by Enrico Tibuzzi) (ANSA) - MUMBAI, DEC 2 - Mission accomplished.
    The Amerigo Vespucci is about to leave Mumbai to continue its world tour and it is already time to draw up a balance sheet of the 28th stage, which achieved positive results, not just in terms of visitor numbers.
    The operation in Mumbai, where the Italian Navy training ship docked for the first time in its 93-year--long history, had an even more important objective: to be a turning point for economic relations between Italy and India after the signing of a five-year strategic plan between the two counties by the respective premiers, Giorgia Meloni and Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the recent G20 summit in Rio.
    "Italy and India can become the ring connecting Europe and South-East Asia," stressed Business and Made in Italy Minister Adolfo Urso on Sunday as he met the representatives of some Italian companies that are leaders in their sectors and have been successfully operating for several years in the market of the country with the biggest population in the world after overtaking China.
    Brembo, Marposs, Bauli, Coesia and Poltrone Frau are Italian companies of excellence that show how it is possible to set up shop in what is destined to become the world's third-biggest economy in a few years.
    Naturally, there is no shortage of difficulties, but what is at stake and the business opportunities that can be taken - according to what emerged during the meetings at the 'Villaggio Italia' set up on the quay where the Vespucci docked - must not be missed.
    "Prospects have never been so good," said Alessandro Giuliani, President of the Italian-Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
    "And in Italy there is not enough awareness of the potential to increase bilateral investment".
    At the moment, around 800 Italian companies are present in India and only half of them have production facilities in the country.
    The value of trade has reached almost 15 billion euros, with exports from Italy to India up by 7.6% in 2023, with 40% made up of machinery.
    But Urso is convinced that the time has come to move on to a more structured partnership that focuses on investments.
    Investments like those that Indian steel companies are set to undertake in Piombino (Jindal) and Taranto (Vulcan Steel has expressed interest in the former Ilva plants) and which the minister spoke about during his visit to Mumbai before moving on to New Delhi.
    In the capital he is set to meet six ministers, in addition to important companies, after the bilateral meeting held here with the head of the Ports Department.
    But it's not just steel giants that are looking to Italy.
    "The interest by various funds in the possibility of investing was tangible," said Difesa Servizi CEO Luca Andreoli.
    "Our friends at the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy will be better able to describe it in quantitative terms.
    "However, we felt it very strongly." Andreoli, who leads the defence ministry company that implements and supports all the phases of the initiatives linked to the Vespucci world tour, said he was "very satisfied" with the results achieved during the Mumbai stage.
    "We can draw up an initial balance sheet even if Villaggio Italia is still open," he said.
    As with previous stages - the Vespucci-Villaggio Italia tandem that Defence Minister Guido Crosetto wanted, and which has already taken our country's excellence to Los Angeles, Tokyo, Darwin and Singapore - the results surpassed expectations, he observed.
    "I must say that we registered a margin of improvement in absolute terms too," he said.
    He said that the visit to India's economic and financial capital "shows that this is a surprising country".
    In the four days it was open to the public, the flow of visitors who climbed aboard Vespucci and were able to see a selection of the most important pieces in the history of Italian design and ingenuity up close was non stop.
    This bears witness to an interest which, according to a survey conducted by tourism agency Enit among some local tour operators, should translate into a constant increase in tourist numbers to Italy in the coming years. (ANSA).