New Delhi, Sep 29 (SocialNews.XYZ) India and Italy on Tuesday held high-level discussions here on a broad range of areas for strengthening tourism cooperation between the two countries, including exchange of tourism data, promotion of lesser-known destinations, cine-tourism, destination twinning, skilling and capacity building, and enhanced Business-to-Business (B2B) engagement, according to an official statement.
The 2nd India–Italy Joint Working Group (JWG) on Tourism was co-chaired by Tourism Secretary Bhuvnesh Kumar and his Italian counterpart Emanuela Tripi.
As a key outcome of the meeting, both sides agreed to establish focused technical groups and designate points of contact to take forward the identified areas of cooperation and facilitate sustained engagement between relevant stakeholders.
The meeting brought together representatives from the Ministries of Tourism, Culture, and External Affairs, the Embassy of India in Rome and the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) from the Indian side. The Italian delegation included senior officials from the Ministries of Tourism and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Embassy of Italy in New Delhi and the ENIT (Italian National Tourism Board).
The two sides also discussed opportunities for tourism cooperation in the context of the proposed India–Italy Year of Culture and Tourism 2027, with a view to further strengthening cultural and tourism exchanges between the two countries.
The 2nd Joint Working Group meeting reaffirmed the commitment of India and Italy to deepen bilateral cooperation in tourism and create stronger institutional and industry linkages between the two countries.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni agreed to leverage the India-EU Free Trade Agreement to expand bilateral trade to 20 billion euros by 2029.
The leaders also expressed satisfaction with growing engagements between researchers and scientific institutions from both countries. They welcomed ongoing collaboration between the Italian Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organisation, and efforts to strengthen commercial space collaboration. They also called for greater collaboration in the fields of AI, Semiconductors, critical minerals and other cutting-edge technologies, synergising India’s talented workforce and Italy’s technological prowess.
Both leaders acknowledged the valuable contribution of the Indian diaspora in Italy and agreed to facilitate mobility of students, researchers and academia. They agreed to celebrate 2027 as the "Year of Culture and Tourism between India and Italy”.
Source: IANS
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