Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs Mario Giro will be representing the Italian Government at the inauguration ceremony for Rafael Correa, President of Ecuador. The ceremony will take place in Quito on 24 May 2013
This will be the first visit to Ecuador by a member of the Italian Government in many years and as such underscores the importance of relations between the two countries. “This visit is part of our initiatives to strengthen relations with Latin America, not least in view of the two-yearly Italy-Latin America conference taking place in Rome in late 2013”, noted Under-Secretary Giro.
During his official talks, Under-Secretary Giro will discuss the regional integration process in Latin America and the outlook for a resumption of the free trade negotiations with the EU. He will also explore issues of mutual interest for enhanced collaboration.
Italy is one of Ecuador’s leading European trade partners and Italian companies have made significant investments in the country in the energy, infrastructure and agri-food sectors.
“Italy and Ecuador are highly complementary in economic and cultural terms: two countries that enjoy the ‘good life’. There’s room for collaboration by our small and medium-sized enterprises, including by building on the experience of the many Ecuadorian ‘returnees’ who have lived and trained in Italy. They could become entrepreneurs and internationalisation ambassadors for our economic model”, the Under-Secretary pointed out.
The visit will showcase some of Italy’s foremost products and projects. Examples include the environmental protection project in the Yasuni reserve or the experience of Italian cooperative banks, which can act as a model for their Ecuadorian counterparts. The Under-Secretary will be meeting representatives of the Italian community in Ecuador: non-governmental organisations, the Italian cultural and business networks and Ecuadorian parliamentarians of Italian origin. With them, he will discuss the priority sectors in which to strengthen Italian-Ecuadorian relations.
