National Day of Italy Celebrated in Islamabad

Islamabad 3 June 2023 (Adnan Hameed) : Embassy of the Italy in Pakistan held an official reception on 2nd June 2023 at the local hotel in Islamabad. The reception was attended by Pakistan’s Federal Minister for of Defence Khawaja Mohammad Asif, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Pakistan Zahid Durrani, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Foreign Ambassadors to Pakistan, Representatives of the Pakistani Government agencies, public, business circles, high-ranking officers of the Armed Forces of Pakistan, Media representatives, as well as Italian community living in Pakistan. The official ceremony was started with the National anthems of Italy and Pakistan. Ambassador of Italy to Pakistan Andreas Ferrarese in his opening speech said that our cooperation encompasses, but is not limited to political, economic, cultural and social spheres. Italy values the vital support and continued cooperation that Pakistan extended to the international community. He said, worker remittances from Italy to Pakistan have been on all-time high in past two years (more than 1 billion Euro a year). Italy was the seventh largest source of worker remittances to Pakistan globally, and the top one within the EU countries. Both countries appreciate the importance of people-to-people contacts that foster bilateral ties. The Embassy is strongly committed to improve consular services. While talking about the joint commission he said, the fifth Italy-Pakistan Joint Economic Commission (JEC) took place on 29-30 May in Rome, where the two sides agreed to establish a joint framework to deal with climate change and cooperation in water management. Both sides signed an important “Roadmap for Cooperation” which covers climate change, trade & investment, heritage & culture, agriculture, technical cooperation, higher education and transfer of technology in related sectors. ‘We shall continue to explore the avenues with focus on agriculture, renewable energy, textiles, construction and tourism. Collaboration in fields of textiles, agriculture, livestock, marble, pharmaceuticals and mass manufacturing would help enhance Pakistan’s industrial scope and increase exports of value added goods’. The Chief Guest of the evening, Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif while deliverng his remarks has said both Pakistan and Italy enjoy excellent relations adding this relationship is poised to grow more in the coming days. The Defence Minister expressed these views while speaking on the occasion of the occasion of 77th anniversary of the Republic Day, National Day of Italy. A large number of MPs, members of the civil society, media persons and civil and military officials attended the reception. Moreover, The Defence Minister said Italy was an important county in the European Union and had always supported Pakistan be it GSP plus or any other issue. He said Pakistan duly recognize Italian goodwill gesture.