Italy wishes Pakistan on 14th Aug

ISLAMABAD: Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese on Sunday (14th of August, 2022) greeted the people of Pakistan on the 75th anniversary of their country’s independence.

“On this auspicious occasion of the Diamond Jubilee celebration, I extend my heartiest and warmest congratulations on behalf of the people and government of Italy to Pakistan on its 75th Independence Day,” the Ambassador stated.

Ambassador Ferrarese informed that the coming year was the diamond jubilee of the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Italy.

Maintaining that there was a wonderful era of mutual political, economic, cultural and social relations between the two countries, H. E. said that there was a need to pave the way for further development of relations between the two countries in many fields.

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Ambassador Andreas Ferrarese has said that Italy and Pakistan have a potential of €4 billion bilateral trade and it’s perfectly doable with collective efforts of both governments and private sectors collaboration.

Ambassador said “this year trade has exponentially grown and can reach around €2 billion and in 2021 it was recorded to €1.52 billion.

“It is the first time that Pakistan’s exports surpass €1 billion and are more than imports in Italy, making Italy the second largest export destination in the European market.”

H.E. maintained that to achieve the €4 billion goal both countries needed to enhance investments and explore new avenues of business cooperation such as in Information and renewable technologies.

Ambassador said that on 10th of August during his meeting with Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, also stressed the need to further enhance the existing potential to enhance trade and investment relations between Pakistan and Italy.

The Prime Minister also showed his interest in collaborations in the renewable energy sector.

Because both countries are facing a deep crisis in renewable energy, however, Italy has made good progress and reached about 27% of renewable energy and that is a great result.

H. E. further added that the during the last 10 years the Pakistani community in Italy has grown up from 25000 thousand to 200,000 and they’re very well accepted by the Italian population and even sometimes

“I have received calls from politicians to make visas easy. So, it means that everybody needs Pakistani community, they are hard workers”.

The Ambassador further added that Pakistan and Italy had a long history of cordial relations and cooperation in political, economic, cultural, and social spheres.

“It is a matter of great satisfaction that the two nations have unanimity of views on several issues of global importance, and mutual cooperation in all fields has been on the rise”.

Ambassador also urged the people of Italy and Pakistan to play their role in further cultural cooperation and economic integration between both countries.

“Apart from business and trade, Italy has carried out significant projects in archaeology, agriculture, health, culture, and tourism.

“Italian Archaeological Mission is one of the oldest present missions in Pakistan and has made significant contributions to Pakistan’s already rich archaeological sphere.

“With a population of around 220 million and a constantly growing demand for high-end products, Pakistan remains an attractive market for Italian manufacturers and business people,” The Ambassador stated.

It is worth mentioning that remittances from Pakistani workers in Italy hit an all-time high.

With the figures of $711.7 million in FY22, Italy has become the seventh-largest center of worker remittances to Pakistan globally and the top one in the EU countries.