Foreign Affairs Minister, Italian Ambassador discuss areas of mutual cooperation during courtesy call

Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Honourable Hugh Hilton Todd, today received a courtesy call from His Excellency Fabrizio Nicoletti, Non-resident Ambassador-Designate of the Republic of Italy to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana.

During the engagement, Minister Todd noted that Guyana is committed to fostering stronger bilateral relations and partnership with Italy in priority areas of the Government including health, education and security.

Minister Todd also initiated talks on visa free travel to Italy for the mutual benefit of both countries, particularly through private sector engagements and people to people exchanges, which will be advanced in the future.

Minister Todd further noted that Italy and the European Union remain valuable partners to Guyana and CARICOM. On this note, the Ambassador alluded to several technical cooperation initiatives including Italy’s role in supporting the Agri-Food Systems agenda of CARICOM towards reducing the Region’s food import bill by 25% by 2025.

The CARICOM Agri-Food Systems Agenda is led by His Excellency President Mohamed Irfaan Ali. The current implementation of the agenda gives special attention to priority crops and products in Member States to achieve this target.