LECCO (ITALY): Brand India has never had it so good in Italy: after years of slumbering under a dormant economy, Italian policy makers and businesses are opening their doors like never before to the Asian drivers of economic prosperity, China and India.

The `India is the future' refrain is too strong to be missed at the just-concluded XV Annual Convention of the Italian Chambers of Commerce Worldwide here. In just a week, representatives from the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce have facilitated linkages between nearly 80 businesses from both sides. "The pendulum is now swinging decisively in India's favour. We are now seeing a rebalancing of the equilibrium, centuries after Europeans took the spice route to conquer India,'' Surinder P. S. Pruthi, founder professor of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, one of the delegates at the convention, said.

"We enormously value the superior Indian human capital and its technical competence,'' Mauro Battocchi, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said, "Italians are now sensing a major new opportunity in India. After President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi visited India in 2005, there has been a sizeable jump in joint ventures and investments. Co-operation is welcome in education, commerce, research, business, cultural exchanges, cinema, literature, energy and natural resources.'''

On the cards is a two-month long Festa Italiana in Mumbai from November 4, which includes a `Invest your talent in Italy' road show for attracting Indian technical students to Italian higher education institutions.

The economic indicators have never been more robust: from a zero growth rate last year, Italy's economy recorded a 1.5 per cent growth this year, and is hoping for a 1.7 per cent growth in the next five years.

"This is due to a drastic restructuring of the economy to cope with competition from emerging markets such as China. We are sending out the message that Italy is technology first, then entrepreneurship and style,'' Mr. Battocchi said.

The `technology first' initiative is good news for India's huge manufacturing and engineering talent, especially in the automotive sector in which Italy commands a sizable global presence.

The statistics are telling: according to Italy's Foreign Trade Institute, ICE, Italy's exports to India peaked in 2005 (plus 31.9 per cent), while India's exports to Italy increased by more than 20.5 percent in 2004, it increased another 8.6 per cent in 2005.

As of 2005, while Italian exports to India stood at 1,679 million euros, Indian exports to Italy were 2,200 million euros.

"The difference between doing business with China and India is that while the former is only now coming out of a centralised economy, the latter is already a liberalised economy with a lot of small and medium enterprises, very closely approximating us.

There is a need for older civilizations to meet and distribute wealth,'' Laddaga Michele, Italian Trade Promotion Department, said.

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