Chinese President Visits Italy: Italy becomes first G7 nation to join Belt & Road
Updated 10:50, 27-Mar-2019
[]
03:01
Italy's signing of this MOU with China makes it the first G7 nation to officially join the Belt & Road Initiative. CGTN's Michal Bardavid has the details.
March 23rd marks the official beginning of a new era for China and Italy.
Italy has joined China's global Belt and Road Initiative, becoming the first G7 country to do so.
The Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries was signed in Rome during Chinese President Xi Jinping's - now historic state visit.
The two countries hope to increase cooperation across many industries including infrastructure, medicine and aviation and have already signed agreements in the fields of energy, steel and gas pipeline. Italy's deputy prime minister emphasized the value of the deals for his country up to 22-and-a-half billion dollars.
LUIGI DI MAIO ITALIAN DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER "Today is the day when the 'Made in Italy' wins, Italy wins, Italian companies win. The signing of the MOU (memorandum of understanding) for the Belt & Road Initiative is worth as much as 20 billion euros the private agreements alone. The agreements signed here today are worth 2.5 billion euros, with a potential value of 20 billion euros, without mentioning the institutional agreements."
The Italian Industrial Association - Confindustria has been working behind the scenes to prepare Italian companies. A year ago, it established a Belt and Road Initiative Group to educate Italian businesses about Chinese market regulations.
LICIA MATTIOLI VICE PRESIDENT OF INTERNATIONALIZATION CONFINDUSTRIA "There are a lot of people who are worried about China because they do not know the place, they don't know the rules. And what we hope, being in Europe, is that to establish in Europe among Europe with China a more open and transparent economic field. It would be very important for our company and we'll explain to our companies associated that they can do more with our help."
Many Italian business leaders believe - when it comes to globalization, China is the future.
VINCENZO PETRONE, CEO ITALY-CHINA FOUNDATION "Thirty years from now, not one century from now, China will be the biggest economy in the world. That is what it is. It is inevitable that the flow of goods, and services, and finance and cultural exchanges will increase dramatically."
MICHAL BARDAVID PALERMO, ITALY "On Saturday Chinese President Xi travelled here to Sicily's capital city Palermo. The city's port behind me handles cargo and cruise ships. However, city officials hope to attract investments to build a new port with a much larger capacity that would transform it into a Mediterranean hub."
Italian ports are expected to be an important part of Chinese-Italian agreements, with ports in Italy offering new gateways to the European market for China. Officials from both countries have also vowed to promote multilateralism and safeguard an inclusive world economy. Michal Bardavid, CGTN, Palermo.