The bilateral trade co-operation body will focus on 10 areas including information and communications technology, infrastructure and manufacturing, India's Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma was quoted as saying.

Sharma, who met Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Minister for Economic Development Paoli Romani in Rome, said both the countries aim to double bilateral trade to $17.5 billion in the next five years.

"Italy is an important trading partner for India and is in the top six trading partners in the European Union," said Sharma, referring to the current trade between the two countries that stood at $7.5billion.

"The two countries need to work together for bilateral trade to increase further and this calls for additional efforts both bilaterally and in the wider India-EU context," said Sharma.

India-Italy trade, after contracting in 2009 following the global financial crisis, has rebounded in the first nine months of 2010. "This is a positive trend and we look forward to working with the Italian side to build up on it," Sharma said.

The new business committee will be managed by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) from the Indian side and by CONFINDUSTRIA from the Italian side. It will meet annually, coinciding with the bilateral ministerial meeting.

The two countries also agreed that soon industry chambers of both the countries will organise workshops and seminars focused on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Seeking closer Italian co-operation in infrastructure sector, Sharma said India will soon come out with a manufacturing policy aimed at increasing the contribution of manufacturing to 24 per cent of the gross domestic product, from 16 per cent now.

On a wider note, Sharma hinted that negotiations for the proposed comprehensive market opening pact with the 27-nation European Union will conclude in 2011.

"We will definitely complete the talks this year," Sharma said before flying for a three-day visit to Italy.

The talks for India-EU free trade pact, officially dubbed as Bilateral Investment and Trade Agreement (BITA), are expected to conclude before the forthcoming India-EU Summit later this year, said an official.

India and EU are negotiating the pact since 2007 but are not able to reach a consensus on the inclusion of intellectual property rights (IPR) and social issues like environment and labour standards in the proposed BITA.

Indian pharmaceutical companies and some non-government bodies are opposing the inclusion of IPR in the proposed agreement, saying that it would affect the sector's ability to produce and export low-cost drugs.

The bilateral trade between India and its largest trading partner, the 27-nation EU, stood at $75 billion during 2009-10 fiscal year.

A free trade pact with EU will improve market access for goods and services, said a FICCI.

"India-EU trade is likely to more than double to exceed $207 billion by 2015, if the trade pact is formalized," it added.

Talking about a separate initiative to increase international business presence of the country, Sharma said India is committed to the successful conclusion of the Doha Round of talks for a global trade deal.

"We all have recognized that 2011 provides the window of opportunity (for conclusion of the talks)," said Sharma, referring to his meeting last week in Davos with key WTO members including EU, China, Brazil and South Africa.

He said all members will "collectively endeavor" to close the remaining gaps, accepting the mandate and the spirit of G-20 Summit declaration.

In the November 2010 meeting of the G-20 held in Seoul , leaders of the world's most influential countries — including the US and the EU, Brazil and India — had pressed for concluding the WTO talks for a multilateral agreement in 2011.