Undersecretary Manlio Di Stefano had today a telephone conversation with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Philippines, Teodoro Lopez Locsin jr.
The conversation is part of a cycle of contacts with counterparts in Southeast Asian countries to relaunch relations and encourage a rapid recovery after the CoVid crisis.
The conversation was an opportunity to assess the excellent bilateral relations, also following the visit made by the Undersecretary in July 2019. Undersecretary Di Stefano expressed the hope for rapid finalization of the agreements under negotiation on agriculture, defence, judicial matters and tourism, also to promote the still unexpressed potential in the economic and commercial field (exchange 1.1 billion € +19% from 2018), which our companies are looking at with growing interest.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Locsin congratulated Undersecretary on the Italian management of the emergency Covid-19 and the “Rilancio (Relaunch)” Decree and stimuli to the economy while thanking for the assistance provided to the large Filipino community living in Italy.
Finally, the Undersecretary recalled the case of his compatriot Angelo Raffaele, detained in the Philippines and awaiting a repatriation order to Italy, obtaining from Locsin full attention on the case and commitment for a positive solution of the matter.
