(Adnkronos) – Italy is Greece’s top trading partner they are committed to bolstering economic ties, premier Giorgia Meloni said after a bilateral summit in Rome at which the countries inked 14 accords including in the areas of security, antidrug operations, industrial and SME policy, transport, sports cooperation, electrical energy and cybersecurity.
‘Today we are committed to strengthening our economic cooperation as well, Italy is Greece’s first trading partner. There are many Italian companies that play a leading role in key sectors from energy to the defence industry,” Meloni said in joint remarks to the press with her Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis after the summit.
“In this regard, I think the agreement between Italy’s (state-controlled rail company) Ferrovie dello Stato and the Greek Ministry of Transport, which relaunches an important area of strategic collaboration, is crucial… I think this sends a positive message on cooperation between our countries,” Meloni continued.
Under the memorandum of understanding, the Italian and Greek governments commit to strengthening Greece’s rail network, with a focus on security, sustainable mobility, safety, digitalisation, industrial cooperation on investment in new rolling stock, training, the green transition and low-emissions technology, cooperation in strategic European policy areas such as ETS and rail capacity.
“With the many MoUs signed today, we are also committed to revitalising our relations in the areas of security, counter-narcotics, defence, space, cyber security, agriculture, civil protection – an area in which we have often had similar difficulties,” Meloni said.
“In short, there are a great many subjects on which our cooperation is solid, where we intend to bolster our cooperation. It is an all-round effort which we can be very satisfied about, I think,,’ said Meloni.
