(Adnkronos) – Italy wants to use its presence as guest of honour at the Guadalajara international book fair later this year to “further strengthen our strategic partnership with Mexico, a major political, commercial, and cultural partner”, foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Friday at a presentation of his country’s programme for the book fair.
“With our strong presence in Guadalajara, as ambassador, we want to further reinforce our strategic partnership with Mexico, a major political, commercial, and cultural partner,” said Tajani.
The value of bilateral trade exceeds 8 billion euros annually and there are over 2,300 Italian companies and approximately 160 investment projects in Mexico, Tajani stated.
“It is a young and dynamic country with which we want to collaborate more and more. We have brought this vision to Europe by pushing for a new free trade agreement. I am certain that the accord will enable our economic partnership to take great strides forward, just as is happening with Mercosur,” Tajani said, referring to the European Union free trade deal with Argentina, Brasile, Paraguay e Uruguay which provisionally entered into force on 1 May.
“The Guadalajara Book Fair is therefore a great opportunity to show off the very best we have to offer across the entire culture and arts sector,” Tajani said.
The book fair taking place from 28 November to 6 December “is a global showcase for the publishing industry, which is thriving and prestigious in the Spanish-speaking world in terms of revenue and attendance,” he said.
“We are targeting a pool of over 300 million potential readers in what is a priority market for Italy: a vast area spanning the whole of the Americas, from the United States to Latin Americ – a region of strategic importance to the government, with which we want to deepen cooperation,” Tajani underlined.
