Edoardo Bonatti
24 luglio 2018
Last week Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, visited Georgia and Azerbaijan to meet with their respective leaders. On July 16, the President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, welcomed Mattarella, accompanied by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, at the Presidential Palace in Tbilisi. In this occasion, the two countries signed some bilateral treaties. When speaking to the press, the Italian president put emphasis on the many sectors in which economic cooperation with Georgia may be stronger such as tourism, manufacture, services, and energy.
The following day, after meeting with the President of the Georgian Parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze and the Patriarch of all Georgia, Ilia II, at the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Mattarella gave the closing speech at the Italy-Georgia Business Forum. Addressing the audience, Mattarella stated that investments and commercial exchanges are an important opportunity to encourage economic cooperation between two complementary economies; this is of particular significance for Italian local SMEs intending to go glocal and engage with international markets. Italian-Georgian cultural, especially in the preservation of historic heritage, and economic cooperation was also the main topic of Mattarella’s speech at Tbilisi State University.
On July 18, Mattarella continued his trip by going to Azerbaijan, a first for an Italian head of state, where President Ilham Aliyev received him to sign other bilateral treaties. In the press conference, Mattarella expressed his satisfaction with the growing interest of the Azerbaijani younger generation in Italian culture. Economic, politic and energetic cooperation were not neglected: Italy may offer to a diversifying Azerbaijani economy many opportunities to acquire expertise and establish fruitful partnerships.
On July 19, speaking at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy in Baku and at the Italy-Azerbaijan Economic Forum, the Italian President remarked the millennial history of cultural exchanges and bonds between the two countries and the growing possibilities offered by an enhanced economic cooperation. Just a day before, the two countries’ Presidents inaugurated an important petrochemical industrial plant in Sumgayt, built by Maìre Tecnimont in collaboration with Socar Polymer. At the university, the President awarded scholarships to students intending to continue their formation in Italian universities. Mattarella also met with the heads of the religious communities in Azerbaijan and with the Prime Minister, Novruz Mammadov.
Azerbaijani and Georgian investors looking to benefit from these recent cooperation efforts by investing in Italian companies may request the new Italian investor visa. Investorsvisa.it is offering many investment opportunities, and Azerbaijani art patrons may be especially interested in one of our proposals: an international movie production documenting the history of Azerbaijani partisans in Italy during World War II.
Source: Quirinale
