Europe
22:07, 21-Mar-2019
Italian PM: Italy is the natural terminal of the BRI
Updated
15:01, 22-Mar-2019
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Italy will join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) because Italy, due to its geographical location, is the natural terminal of the BRI, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said during a recent interview with CGTN.
The prime minister confirmed that he will attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation scheduled for April in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will travel to Italy on Thursday for the first state visit by a Chinese head of state to the European country in 10 years.
Conte also confirmed the two sides will sign the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on BRI cooperation.
From this agreement, not only Europe will benefit, but also other countries and third parties, he believed.
People view the model of F1 formula racing car at the Italy booth during the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, China, November 6, 2018. /Xinhua Photo
People view the model of F1 formula racing car at the Italy booth during the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, China, November 6, 2018. /Xinhua Photo
Conte noted the relationships between China and Italy are very close especially from an economic and commercial point of view, hailing the first China International Import Expo (CIIE) as a huge success.
"Chinese economy is a huge economy with huge potential even for Italian companies, and I confess that we trust that we can also improve our exports to be able to enjoy better access conditions for our companies and also the overcoming of tariffs and non-tariff barriers," he said.
From Conte's perspective, the two sides can also improve cooperation in many more areas including agriculture, sustainable urbanization, aviation, transportation, infrastructure. He said that there are no limits for the cooperation areas.
Celebrations for Chinese New Year held in Rome, Italy on February 10, 2019. /VCG Photo
Celebrations for Chinese New Year held in Rome, Italy on February 10, 2019. /VCG Photo
As 2020 will be the China-Italy culture and tourism year, Conte hoped the two sides to deepen culture exchanges.
He stressed that many schools in Italy have already offered Chinese classes, which means Italian people have interests in Chinese and Chinese culture.