UAE-Italy ties set to take off to new heights; Italian Prime Minister

Abu Dhabi (WAM): Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta said that his trip to the UAE has generated important positive results and that more joint projects and investment would flow between the two countries. He told a press conference he held at the Emirates Palace today that the UAE is a major economic partner to Italy in the Middle East and that the series of bilateral agreements signed today on areas of culture, education, energy, oil, environment, scientific research and tourism, would serve strategic ties between the friendly nations. Mr. Letta disclosed that negotiations on strategic partnership between Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, and Alitalia, were in the final phase, hoping Etihad would allocate part of its foreign investment to acquire a stake in the Italian carrier. He declined to specify the amount of the deal, but added that the due diligence process might come to end within the next 30 days, after which the two carriers would announced the official deal. On Dubai Expo 2020, the Italian prime minister said ''Dubai has worked miracles by all standards and as we are preparing to host Expo Milano 2015 and we are ready to put our expertise at the disposal of Dubai and the UAE to host Expo 2020. Joint cooperation will remain active well beyond 2020.'' He stated that Expo Milano 2015 would offer support and expertise to Dubai Expo team to help them avoid shortcomings Italy faced when started to plan for its expo. He praised the Dubai Expo 2020's plan as ''forward looking''. He added that participation of the UAE pavilion under the supervision of the National Media Council at Milano Expo next year would provide the UAE with a magnificent opportunity to introduce the UAE's success story to the Italian people and other nations. As for talks with senior UAE officials, Mr. Letta said they had focused on solid bases for building a future strategic economic partnership. ''During this visit, I have sensed the extent of care the UAE officials pay to further bolstering ties with Italy in various domains,'' the Italian prime minister told reporters. – Emirates News Agency, WAM