Italy Starts Seeing Russia As Major Investment Destination, Start-Up Partner - Chamber

Italy Starts Seeing Russia as Major Investment Destination, Start-Up Partner - Chamber

Russia is becoming increasingly attractive for Italy as a capital investment destination and partner in creating joint ventures and start-ups, rather than just an export market, Rocky Malatesta, the head of the Italian-Russian Economy and Development Center (Cesvir), told Sputnik, noting that President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Rome had further contributed to the process

GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th July, 2019) Russia is becoming increasingly attractive for Italy as a capital investment destination and partner in creating joint ventures and start-ups, rather than just an export market, Rocky Malatesta, the head of the Italian-Russian Economy and Development Center (Cesvir), told Sputnik, noting that President Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Rome had further contributed to the process.

On July 4, Putin paid a one-day visit to the Vatican and Italy where he met with Pope Francis, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. In addition, the Russian-Italian Civil Society Dialogue Forum convened its first session in six years, gathering entrepreneurs and state officials from both countries. Putin recommended that the forum become regular.

"I believe the era when Russia was considered only as a market rich with buyers where one can sell Italian products has finished. Now Russia has reached such a maturity that it is possible to invest foreign capital with great tranquility, and not only relocate Italian companies there but also open new companies and Start Ups with Russian partners, with great chances of success for businesses in various sectors," Malatesta said.

According to Malatesta, the meeting between Putin and Conte "created a climate of relaxation and serenity that is very useful for seeing future prospects." He, in particular, noted that the Russian president in his speech outlined "many possibilities" for cooperation in technology innovation and joint ventures.

Malatesta, however, recalled that he was "one of the thousands of Italian entrepreneurs who have been suffering a serious interruption in the economic relations with Russia because of this situation with cross-border embargoes that only caused a great damaged to small and medium enterprises."

Putin's visit, Malatesta believes, opens a "great opportunity to revive the friendship that has been linking us for centuries."

"Making these [civil society] forums permanent, bringing back to its glory the Italian-Russian Task Force that until 2014 used to be a great opportunity for Italian SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] and Russian buyers to meet and develop together, and organizing again political and technical roundtables to discuss bilateral relations should now become a priority on the ministerial agendas, in my opinion," he added.

At the joint press conference with Conte, Putin expressed hope Italy would become a partner of the 2020 Innoprom International Industrial Fair in Russia's Yekaterinburg and send a delegation to participate in the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum.

"Now it's time for important agreements that bring about medium and long-term visions and strategies. So I fully support the idea of the Italian partnership for Innoprom 2020 and the St. Petersburg cultural forum. These are the occasions where Italian companies can present themselves at their finest, feeling support from the government and thus having more confidence with their choices in the sphere of commercial relations," Malatesta said.

The next day after Putin's visit, Michele Geraci, the undersecretary of state for the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, told Sputnik that the feedback from the national companies who participated in the forum was very positive, and that there was a strong interest in cooperation on their part. He also projected that Italy's export to Russia could show a growth of between 5 percent and 10 percent in 2019.