Italy's export to Russia could show a growth of between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2019, which would in turn raise companies' confidence in the Russian market and trigger further investment, Michele Geraci, Undersecretary of State for Economic Development in the Italian government, told Sputnik
GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th July, 2019) Italy's export to Russia could show a growth of between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2019, which would in turn raise companies' confidence in the Russian market and trigger further investment, Michele Geraci, Undersecretary of State for Economic Development in the Italian government, told Sputnik."I am personally working on it: to make sure that the number for the Italian export growth to Russia for 2019 is a good, positive number; a single digit number, hopefully higher that 5 percent, between 5 and 10 percent. That will be the objective," Geraci said.
He explained that there was always a certain imbalance with export figures when it came to Russia because of the "large component of energy and oil that Italy purchases from Russia," but that exports of Italian goods, especially machinery and precision machinery, were steadily growing.
"My forecast for 2019 is ... I hope it will grow for the full year and will show a good performance [of] between 5 and 10 percent. That would be a good figure and will make our companies confident in this market. Because you know, companies, in order to export, they need to invest. And in order to invest, they need to have clarity. And we try to make things clear for our companies, to give them a little bit of comfort," Geraci said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a one-day visit to Rome on Thursday where he met with Pope Francis, President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. In addition, the Italo-Russian Civil Society Dialogue Forum convened its first session in six years, gathering entrepreneurs and state officials from both sides.
At a joint press conference after the meeting, both Putin and Conte praised bilateral trade relations and expressed their commitment to further cooperation.
