DUSHANBE, September 14, 2010, Asia-Plus — Expansion of trade and economic cooperation between Tajikistan and Italy was the focus of a meeting of senior representatives of Tajikistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) with a high-ranking Italian delegation that took place here on September 13, according to the CCI press service.
In the course of the talks, the CCI head Sharif Said noted that Tajik enterprises and companies were interested in establishment of mutually beneficial cooperation with Italian business circles. Tajik CCI is taking efforts to provide favorable conditions for foreign investors in the country, he said.
For his part, the head of the Italian delegation, Vise-Minister of Economic Development Adolfo Urso, said that his country was interested in expansion of cooperation with Tajikistan in the fields of energy and mechanical engineering, transportation and logistics, construction of roads and formation of international transport corridors, housing, light and food industries, as well as in such fields as oil and gas, cotton processing and so forth.
The Italian delegation members noted that despite the global financial and economic crisis that has resulted in Tajik-Italian trade considerably decreasing (from US$27 million in 2009 to US$12 million in January-July 2010), Italian entrepreneurs were seeking an active cooperation with their Tajik colleagues.
At the end of the meeting, Mr. Umberto Vattani, President, Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) said that the Institute planned to open its office in Tajikistan that would promote holding of joint events and strengthening of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries, the CCI press service said.
The Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE) is the government agency dedicated to promote, facilitate, and develop trade between Italy and the rest of the world. ICE helps Italian companies to grow in foreign markets, and promotes inward-outward investment. ICE, with headquarters in Rome, has 17 regional offices in Italy and 111 offices in over 83 countries.
