Bucharest, 14.02.2024 – # RBJ (government press release) – The Romanian PM, Marcel Ciolacu, will pay a working visit to Rome on February 14-15, where he will participate in the third joint meeting of the Governments of Romania and Italy, organized 13 years after the previous intergovernmental summit.
The Prime Minister will have several high-level meetings with Italian officials and will meet with representatives of the Romanian community in Italy.
Thus, Prime Minister Ciolacu will have talks with the Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, Giorgia Meloni, and will participate in the plenary meeting of the two official delegations and in the signing ceremony of bilateral sectoral documents.
The program of the visit will also include a meeting with the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri.
An important component of the visit is the economic one, context in which several members of the delegation will participate in the Romanian-Italian Economic Forum.
“The organization of the third Intergovernmental Summit is proof of the strategic and privileged nature of the bilateral relationship between Romania and Italy and reflects the extraordinary potential that we will develop together, for the benefit of our states and citizens. Romanians form a strong community in Italy, and Italians represent the largest community of entrepreneurs in Romania, a fact that strengthens our special collaboration. Italy is among the most important economic partners of Romania, and the organization of the Economic Forum focused on areas such as IT&C, energy, the processing and mechanical industry, infrastructure, the agri-food industry is another excellent opportunity for increasing our economic cooperation”, said Prime Minister Marcel Little boy.
Also, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu will be received in audience by His Holiness Pope Francis, at the Vatican, and will have a meeting with the Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin.
The government delegation that will accompany the head of government to Italy will include Deputy Prime Minister Marian Neacșu, Minister of Internal Affairs, Cătălin Predoiu, Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, Sorin Grindeanu, Minister of National Defense, Angel Tîlvăr, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luminița Odobescu, and the Minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Radu Oprea.
The Romanian-Italian bilateral relationship is based on the Strategic Partnership concluded on April 17, 1997, raised to the level of Consolidated Strategic Partnership on January 9, 2008.
The first joint Government meeting (G2G) Romania-Italy took place in 2008, in Rome, and the second in 2011, in Bucharest.
After 13 years since the organization of the last joint meeting of governments, in Bucharest, the third meeting between the Government of Romania and the Council of Ministers of Italy aims to capitalize on the Consolidated Strategic Partnership between Romania and Italy and to further boost bilateral cooperation, European and Euro-Atlantic.
Documents to be signed during the meeting:
– The updated Declaration of the Consolidated Strategic Partnership – establishes the cooperation priorities for the next period based on the convergence of interests between the two states;
– Several bilateral sectoral cooperation documents in areas such as entrepreneurship and SMEs, tourism, civil protection, etc.
Economically, Italy has been Romania’s second trading partner for several years, with a share of approximately 9.5% in our country’s total trade.
Data for the first ten months of 2023 record a further increase in bilateral trade of around 3% compared to the same period in 2022, reaching a nominal value of EUR 16.9 billion.
