Rome // Bilateral trade between Italy and the UAE is likely to grow by up to 15 per cent this year, boosted by demand for industrial machinery in the infrastructure sector.
“In my opinion growth will be 5 to 15 per cent,” said Giorgio Strarace, the Italian ambassador to the UAE, during a meeting at the Italian foreign ministry in Rome.
“The strong euro affected exports to the UAE in the last part of 2013, but now the situation has changed and we are already experiencing growth.”
Bilateral trade between the countries was €6.9 billion (Dh34.3bn) last year. According to figures from the Italian embassy in Abu Dhabi, about four fifths of that trade consisted of exports from Italy to the Emirates.
The embassy said that two-way trade rose 5.1 per cent last year and was up 56 per cent since 2010.
The biggest component of the southbound flow was jewellery, at €1.25bn. In the northbound direction, boats led at €575 million (crude oil exports from the UAE to Italy were worth €202m).Looking ahead, trade growth is expected to come from the agri-foods sector, with many Italian restaurants opening in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Also, demand for Italian companies and machinery is high in the construction sector.
On the telecoms front, Mr Strarace said that Etisalat and Rome-based Wind Telecomunicazioni recently met to discuss “points of alliance” in Africa.
Mr Strarace said Wind is strong in West Africa and Etisalat in North Africa.
“They have ambition of expanding and to join their strength,” he said. “They are in the very beginning of the talks. They are just knowing each other and discussing points of interests.”
Vincenzo De Luca, an official at the Italian foreign ministry, said: “Our export to the UAE is equal to Brazil and not far from Japan. This is the importance of the partnership between Italy and UAE.
“For the UAE, it is crucial to have a partnership with a manufacturing country from Europe. For us, the UAE is a hub for countries in the Arab peninsula. It is one of the most important countries for our exports in the Arab world,” he added.
Italy, which will host a World Expo in Milan from May 1 to October 31 next year, is looking to share its expertise with the UAE authorities on hosting the exhibition.
“Expo Milan 2015 will be a promotion for the Expo Dubai 2020. With this framework, the two expo hosts, Milan and Dubai, signed in February an agreement to work together and exchange expertise,” said Mr De Luca.
He said that the UAE Pavilion at Expo Milan 2015 will be one of the biggest after Germany and China.
Etihad Airways and Alitalia are the official carriers for Expo 2015.
selgazzar@thenational.ae
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