IT was striking this week at an event in Glasgow aimed at promoting trade in both directions between Scotland and Italy that those involved were highlighting this as a natural and obvious, and certainly very achievable, goal.

This is exactly as it should be. After all, the two countries have very strong personal and institutional links, as was flagged by British Ambassador to Italy Christopher Prentice as he attended the lunchtime summit at the Battlefield Rest on the south side of Glasgow.

This restaurant, it is worth noting, is a very fine example of what can come out of the generally warm and strong Scottish-Italian relationship, with owner Marco Giannasi having created a successful and popular business in a building that was once a resting place for tram travellers.

The areas highlighted at Tuesday’s event as fertile ground for boosting trade, including premium food and drink, textiles such as cashmere and tweed, engineering, and creative industries all seem to be eminently sensible sectors for co-operation.

Crucially, in terms of the mechanics of it all, once companies get together in trade ventures there are currently no significant barriers, given both Scotland and Italy are within the huge and powerful free trade zone that is the European Union.

The EU, we must remember, contains export markets that are absolutely crucial to companies in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK, including France and Germany as well as Italy and many other nations.

And that brings us to the elephant in the room when it comes to Scotland and the rest of the UK’s trading relationships with the EU: Prime Minister David Cameron’s promised referendum by 2017 on whether or not to stay a member of the free trade bloc.

A vote to leave the EU, which looks like a grave danger at the moment given the opinion polls, would ensure the hassle-free and hugely beneficial free trade mechanisms from which Scottish and other UK companies benefit in doing business with fellow member states including Italy will seize up swiftly and surely.

Asked about the looming referendum on the UK’s continuing membership of the EU, Mr Prentice appeared confident that elephant in the corner would not be taking centre stage to stomp all over the successes and endeavours of companies in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK in EU markets.

In many ways, it is good to see this confidence. After all, the economic outcome of a vote to leave the EU is almost unthinkable.

That said, the fact that this outcome might not bear thinking about does not mean it will not happen.

Mr Prentice asserted a view that the Italian government, like Mr Cameron, saw a need for change within the EU.

And he declared that both the Italian and UK governments saw the single market as the “powerhouse of the European economy in the global competitive world we are facing”.

However, it may not matter that much, at the end of the day, how the Italian and UK governments see things.

Whether or not the grave economic dangers of an EU exit crystallise is entirely in the hands of the UK electorate. And there are a lot of signs that the vote will not necessarily be influenced in large measure by the big economic issues.

When trying to assess the likely outcome of the referendum, we must take account of the backdrop of depressingly prevalent xenophobia in Britain at the moment. Some politicians on the right, with their utterly tiresome and ill-informed rhetoric, must shoulder a large part of the blame for this blight.

A poll on behalf of The Herald at the recent Institute of Directors Scotland annual conference showed that nearly 90 per cent of business leaders believe that a UK exit from the EU would damage the economy north of the Border. And nearly half of those polled rated the chances of the UK leaving the EU as “medium”, “high” or “very high”.

The first finding highlights the likely economic damage arising from an EU exit. The second finding is perhaps just as worrying, given the acknowledgement by business leaders that an exit is a very distinct possibility.

It was heartening to hear Mr Prentice and Eleonora Vanello, Scottish branch manager of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the UK, speaking in harmony on the opportunities for increased trade between Scotland and Italy.

Mr Giannasi also highlighted the potential for trade in both directions, noting his purchases of food from Lucca Province for his restaurant.

He said: “Last week, I got a purchase of Italian goods from my area, from small firms producing specialist goods like pasta, biscuits, olive oil.

“The same goes for the Scottish products. I think everyone is looking for something a bit more special, a bit more exclusive.”

Hopefully, such free two-way trade between Scotland and Italy will still be on the menu after 2017, and the opportunities to increase it will be seized upon in many sectors to the economic benefit of both countries.

That said, we underestimate the elephant in the room at our peril and everything possible must be done to avert the economic catastrophe of an EU exit.