Rome, 29 September /BNA/ His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, affirmed the distinguished relations and close cooperation between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Italian Republic, highlighting the partnership’s growth and development across all fields, thanks to the care and attention of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. His Highness pointed to the mutual keenness of both countries to advance cooperation, coordination, and bilateral partnership towards broader horizons in various fields that bring growth and prosperity to both friendly nations and peoples.

This came during HRH the Crown Prince and Prime Minister’s meeting, attended by His Highness Sheikh Isa bin Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Minister of the Royal Court, His Excellency Dr. Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani, Minister of Foreign Affairs, His Excellency Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, Minister of Finance and National Economy, and several senior officials, with Her Excellency Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of the friendly Italian Republic. The meeting was part of HRH’s official visit to the Vatican City and the Italian Republic. His Highness expressed pride in the advanced levels of Bahraini-Italian relations underpinned by joint agreements, emphasizing the importance of continuing to build on achievements and strengthening the strategic partnership on all levels to create more promising opportunities to achieve shared aspirations and goals.

The Crown Prince also highlighted Italy’s role in promoting security and peace regionally and globally, noting that Bahrain, under the leadership of His Majesty the King, continues its efforts to spread peace and promote values of tolerance, coexistence, and dialogue among civilizations, cultures, and religions.

His Highness affirmed the role of agreements, memoranda of understanding, and declarations to be signed during this visit, which will support efforts to elevate bilateral relations to promising horizons of cooperation and strengthen distinguished partnerships that bring prosperity and growth to both sides.

In the presence of HRH the Crown Prince and the Italian Prime Minister, a strategic cooperation and investment partnership was signed between Bahrain’s Ministry of Finance and National Economy and Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy. The agreement was signed by His Excellency Sheikh Salman bin Khalifa Al Khalifa on the Bahraini side and His Excellency Adolfo Urso on the Italian side.

During the official visit, the following were announced:

    • Cooperation in space sciences, technologies, and applications between the Bahrain Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency.
    • Enhancing cooperation and developing customs work mechanisms, customs control, and protection of customs chains between Bahrain Customs Affairs and the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency.

    The visit also witnessed the signing of:

    • A framework cooperation agreement between Mumtalakat Holding Company and Invest Industrial for investment cooperation, signed by His Excellency Sheikh Abdullah bin Khalifa Al Khalifa, CEO of Mumtalakat, and Mr. Andrea Bonomi, Chairman of Invest Industrial.
    • An agreement between Bahrain National Bank and Italy’s BPM Bank regarding bilateral banking partnership in trade and investment, signed by Mrs. Hala Yateem, Chairwoman of Bahrain National Bank, and Mr. Massimo Tononi, Chairman of BPM Bank.
    • An agreement of the Italian-Bahraini Business Council to enhance cooperation and develop commercial partnerships, signed by Mr. Khalid Rashid Al Zayani, Co-Chairman of the Council on the Bahraini side, and Mr. Ignazio Moncada, Co-Chairman on the Italian side.

The two sides reviewed the strong and distinguished relations and ways to consolidate them across all fields, alongside the latest regional and international developments and issues of mutual interest.

For her part, Her Excellency Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, praised the leadership role of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa in enhancing cooperation, stability, and peace in the region and the world, welcoming HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa’s visit, which reflects the mutual keenness to strengthen Bahraini-Italian relations to achieve shared goals and aspirations.