India raised the issues of mutual recognition of CoWin vaccine certificate and easing of travel restrictions at the India-Italy Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation (JCEC) held virtually on Friday.

The need for longer duration of business visas and portability of social security benefits of Indians working in Italy were also highlighted by Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal in his interaction with Luigi Di Maio, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy, according to an official release.

“Both sides held extensive discussions on bilateral trade and investment and economic co-operation in the areas of food processing, textiles, leather, railways, start-ups and promotion of SMEs which play a crucial role in economic growth and employment generation. The bilateral market access issues and non-tariff barriers were also discussed to facilitate trade and investment,” the release stated.

Focus on energy tie-up

A G2B (government-to-business) session focussing on energy partnership was held virtually in the presence of the two Ministers. During the meeting, three Indian companies — Indian Oil Corporation, Adani Solar, ReNew Power — made presentations on the areas of green economy, clean technology and promotion of use of renewable energy for grid-based multi-energy systems. Italian companies Enel Green Power, Snam, Maire Tecnimont also made presentations.

“They (the Ministers) underscored the pioneering role played by India and Italy at the multilateral fora as early adopters of ambitious clean energy targets and invited the private and public sectors of both countries to explore synergies to further enhance mutual energy capacities,” the release stated.

The two sides also reviewed the progress on the outcomes of the India-EU leaders Summit in Porto, Portugal.

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