Italy's' foreign minister Antonio Tajani and his Kuwaiti counterpart Salem Abdullah al-Jaber al-Sabah have signed a strategic dialogue accord as the two countries look to bolster bilateral ties across a wide range of sectors.
"Kuwait is a leading partner of Italy's in the Middle East" a foreign ministry statement cited Tajani as saying on Tuesday after the strategic dialogue's inking during a visit to Rome by al-Sabah.
"We intend to strengthen bilateral relations in the political, economic, trade, environmental, scientific and cultural fields," Tajani added.
As part of the agreement to expand cultural and scientific cooperation between their countries, Tajani and al-Sabah also signed an Executive Programme for the years 2023-2025, according to the statement.
Trade between between Italy and Kuwait is "excellent" and increased over 53% last year, Tajani noted.
"This makes Italy the leading European exporter to Kuwait," said Tajani.
The Italian government plans to strengthen Italy's business presence in Kuwait by offering it the expertise possessed by Italian companies in the areas covered by the New Kuwait 2035 development blueprint to transform the country into a financial, cultural and trade hub in the region and internationally, said the statement.
Tajani and al-Sabah also witnessed the signing on Tuesday of an agreement between Italy's state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and Kuwait's development fund that will allow the two nations to forge development projects in other countries, the statement said.
During their meeting at the prime minister's office, Palazzo Chigi, Tajani and al-Sabah held brief talks with premier, Giorgia Meloni, the statement added.
