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M. Ramesh

To provide trade & project finance

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Chennai Feb. 10 Italy has set up a € 300-million (Rs 1,700 crore) fund to help its small and medium enterprises to do business with India.

Seven Italian banks have contributed to the corpus of the `Go India' fund, Italy's Minister of International Trade and European Affairs, Ms Emma Bonino, told Business Line on Saturday.

The Go India fund, that was formed two days ago, will provide trade finance, project finance, funding feasibility studies, and also help Italian SMEs set up joint ventures with Indian companies, the Minister said.

The Go India fund underscores the importance that the current government in Italy gives to India, Ms Bonino said.

She said that it also marked a shift in attitude because the previous regime in Italy saw the boom in Asia as a `threat' to Italy's own industries.

Ms Bonino is a part of an Italian delegation, headed by the country's Prime Minister, Mr Romano Prodi, which is currently visiting India. Chennai is the delegation's first port of call.

She said that there's lot of scope in co-operation between India and Italy in the areas of leather, textiles and food processing.

Observing that there was also scope for co-operation in the film industry, Ms Bonino pointed out that an Indian film industry delegation had visited Italy to ascertain the possibilities of shooting in the hilly locales of northern Italy.

A background note provided by the visiting delegation notes that in 2005, Italy's exports to India was about 1.6 billion, while India's exports to Italy was about 2.2 billion.

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