Belt and Road: Italian, Chinese businesses eye growth opportunities

The Belt and Road Initiative would provide long-term development chances for growing industry sectors in Italy and China, according to professionals.

The issue was discussed at a recent forum held in Italian city of Milan which attracted Italian and Chinese entrepreneurs, officials and experts, Xinhua news agency reported.

Titled "Building a concrete roadmap for Italy and China's Joint Growth", the event was organised by Italy-China Foundation with the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

"As a comprehensive project, the Belt and Road (initiative) might give all companies a strong opportunity to reduce their costs, and cut distances in both cultural, infrastructural, and logistical terms," Massimiliano Guzzini, Vice President of lighting technology firm IGuzzini, said.

The Belt and Road Initiative, which comprises the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, was proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of building a trade, investment and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes.

Having spent years in China, where the firm opened a branch in 2005, the entrepreneur is able to observe "great changes" in the Chinese society and the consumer trends in Asia overall.

"Design was not yet well known at the time (2005), but since then I have seen Chinese firms, training courses, and universities' departments and research centers growing steadily in the sector," Guzzini said.

Now that the industry was showing vibrant signals of potential growth in the area, the Belt and Road Initiative would "indeed boost the future development of our industry", he added.

For Italy, China is currently the ninth largest market for exports and the first target market for sales to the Asia-Pacific region, according to Italy's state-owned export credit agency SACE.

The trade exchange between the two countries suggest there is room for broad development.

Italian sales to China reached 11.1 billion euros (13.2 billion USD) in 2016, marking a 6.4 per cent rise over the previous year and is expected to increase by some 296.8 million euros (350.2 million USD) by 2020, the agency's data and forecast showed.

Apparel, jewellery, fibres and yarns, drugs and pharmaceutical products, machinery, shoes, and textile are among Italy's top 10 sectors in terms of exports to China, according to Italy-China Foundation.

On the other hand, Italy is China's fifth largest commercial partner for trade volume and has become one of the major recipient countries of Chinese investments in Europe in latest years. As such, projects related to the Belt and Road Initiative would likely benefit many different industries.

--IANS

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