Since the initiation of my tenure as the Ambassador of Italy to India, this is just my second visit outside Delhi; the first one being a short visit to Mumbai on the occasion of the ceremony of the Impresa Award to the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce.

I am glad of being at the moment in Hyderabad, a city that has achieved remarkable heights in the world of science and technology, thanks to the commendable contribution of Hon.ble Chandrababu Naidu who, as all of us are aware, has always striven to make Hyderabad one of the most important points of reference for technological research and development.

The workshop that we are inaugurating today comes under the framework of the "EU-India Economic Cross-Cultural Programme" that aims at strengthening mutual collaboration between institutions in India and in Europe in fields such as universities and academics, media and enterprise. It is one of the four approved projects having Italian co-ordinators on the European side and is supported by expert partners from the Arsenal Research Centre in Vienna.

This project also assumes particular importance in view of the fact that Indo-European co-operation, that till date has been more or less theoretical in the fields of physics and mathematics, now extends itself to applied research in the fields of mechanical science, computer science, engineering, management, environment, etc. As an example of the practical aspect of such collaboration, one can cite the pilot project on hydrology and ground water management that is scheduled to start in May 2000 and will study sustainable water management and conservation.

It is a matter of great privilege that our Indian partner is the B.M. Birla Science Centre that, thanks to the impeccable guidance of Dr. Sidharth, has become one of the most prestigious institutions of international fame. At this point, I would rightly like to mention the fruitful collaboration developed in the past years between Italian institutions and the B.M. Birla Science Centre, that saw the success of the Indo-Italian Workshop on "Advanced Technology for Environment" held in October last year.

It is my desire to witness a systematic collaboration between Italy and Andhra Pradesh that would no more limit itself to the field of Science and Technology but would extend much further in the cultural, commercial and industrial spheres as well. In this regard, I would like to assure complete support from myself and from the Embassy of Italy for the initiatives that will be undertaken in this direction.

To conclude, I would like to congratulate the Indian, Austrian and Italian participants for the noteworthy activities organised during this first year of the project and I wish them the best of success for the activities programmed for the next year.