The official visit of Kazakhstan’s Head of State to Italy began with a meeting with President Sergio Mattarella, the press service of Akorda reports.
Emphasizing that this was his first visit to Italy as President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev thanked Sergio Mattarella for his hospitality. Tokayev noted the long and mutually beneficial relations with the Italian Republic, a reliable partner of Kazakhstan in the European Union.
"Today I would like to discuss issues of mutual interest, including the development of economic ties and strengthening relations aimed at the prosperity of the two countries, as well as ways to solve pressing international problems," Kasym-Jomart Tokayev said.
The President further stated that Italy is one of Kazakhstan's key trading partners in Europe.
The volume of mutual trade has exceeded 14.5 billion dollars. We expect the trade turnover between our countries to reach 20 billion dollars in the foreseeable future. Italy is one of the main investors in Kazakhstan's economy, with about 300 Italian companies operating in our market, including Eni, a flagship company. We highly appreciate the results of our bilateral relations and intend to continue creating favorable conditions for their work. Simultaneously, it is necessary to give additional impetus to the development of cooperation not only in the economic sphere but also in other areas, such as culture and tourism. I am confident that cooperation between Kazakhstan and Italy will be very fruitful.
President Tokayev spoke in detail about the most attractive and promising areas of the country's economy for foreign investors, including "green" energy.
The heads of state separately discussed the issues of interaction between Kazakhstan and Italy in the world arena, including within the UN and OSCE. The presidents noted the importance of strengthening the system of international relations and global security based on respect for the principles of the UN Charter.
The interlocutors also addressed the prospects for the development of cooperation between Kazakhstan and Central Asia with the European Union, emphasizing solid prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation in the field of transport and logistics, particularly the development of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR).
Taking the opportunity, President Tolayev congratulated President Mattarella on Italy's assumption of the G7 presidency and wished success in implementing the G7 agenda.
Noting Italy's great interest in the political and social modernization carried out in Kazakhstan, Sergio Mattarella thanked the President of Kazakhstan for his visit to Rome and expressed confidence that the results of today's talks would provide an additional impetus to bilateral economic, political, cultural, and humanitarian ties.
At the end of the meeting, the President extended an invitation to his Italian counterpart to visit Kazakhstan, which was gratefully accepted. The heads of state then continued negotiations in the format of a working lunch.
