ISLAMABAD, Sep 25 (APP):MNA/Convener of the
Pakistan-Italy Parliamentary Friendship Group Shaz
ia Marri on Wednesday called for enhancing’ ties between
Pakistan and Italy through cultu
ral exchanges, youth dev
elopment programs and people-to-people contact.
Shaz
ia Marri expressed these views while chairing the maiden meeting of
Pakistan-Italy Parliamentary Friendship Group (PFG).
Besides the officers from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce, the meeting was also attended by the Ambassador of Italy to
Pakistan as well as the Ambassador of
Pakistan to Italy. The agenda was to discuss the prospects of enhancing bilateral and trade ties between the two countries.
Ambassador of Italy to
Pakistan, Marilina Armellin reaffirmed her country’s unwavering commitment to supporting
Pakistan in mutually agreed priority sectors such as economic growth projects for rural dev
elopment.
She highlighted the long visa processing times particularly for the students and underscored the need to minimize processing times for them.
Shaz
ia Marri also thanked the Italian Ambassador for their generous support to the flood victims in 2022. The Italian Ambassador responded that they were also airing a radio program on Climate related issues in order to raise awareness among the masses.
The Italian Ambassador reaffirmed the commitment of her government towards enhancing economic cooperation with
Pakistan through various projects.
She also referred to Italy’s flagship initiative that aims to build a multi-professional olive and olive oil in
Pakistan to enhance production and improve food security through technical assistance and training of relevant stakeholders.
Talking about the dev
elopment of Baluchistan, the Italian Ambassador informed that they were working on delivering olive oil based cosmetic products for the dev
elopment of rural women of Balochistan. The Italian government was ready to supply necessary equipment/ machinery for the olive oil extraction and dairy sector.
Ms. Marri outlined the need to expedite the process of finalizing the pending MoUs/Agreements between the two countries particularly the visa abolition agreement on diplomatic passports so that the officials of the two countries could frequently interact with each other without barriers of visas.
In order to translate the existing relations between
Pakistan and Italy in to essential people-to-people contacts, Shaz
ia Marri stressed on enhanced parliamentary linkages, youth engagement programs and sports diplomacy between the two countries.
Shaz
ia Marri emphasized that Parliamentary Friendship group of both countries could significantly strengthen bilateral relations, fostering a stronger connection between the both countries.
