(Finance) – Stop in Washington, Tomorrow, March 1 and in Torontoor March 2 for the Prime Minister Melons where he will meet the President respectively, Joe Biden, and Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. The visit – in the context of the Italian Presidency of the G7 for 2024 – follows the mission in Japan at the beginning of February and at the first meeting of the G7 leaders under the Italian Presidency which took place via video conference from Kiev on 24 February.
The target it is first and foremost that of share with President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau (Canada will take over in 2025) the priorities of the Italian Presidency of the G7: defense of the international system based on the force of law and continued support for Ukraine; conflict in the Middle East, with its consequences on the global agenda; priority attention towards Africa, with the aim of building a model of beneficial partnership for everyone; continued focus on the Indo-Pacific region; imimportance of migration issues; Artificial intelligence.
In both cases, Also at the center of the agenda are excellent bilateral relations, in all sectors, between Italy and the United States and between Italy and Canada, as well as the prospects for their further strengthening. With reference to the meeting with the President Bidenit will be a question in particular of continuing to build bilateral relations on the basis of the Joint Declaration adopted by the two leaders as part of the President’s first visit Meloni in Washington since the beginning of his mandate on July 27th.
Also the meeting with Trudeau will allow us to give further stimulus to the already important relations between the two Nations. In fact, Canada and Italy already have strong trade and investment relations, with complementary economies that leverage the strength of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Both talks will constituteor, furthermore, the opportunity for a discussion on the main international issues: first of all the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the continued support for Kiev; the situation in the Middle East and the prevention of regional escalation, humanitarian support to Gaza and security and stability in the Red Sea; cooperation with the African continent and the Mattei Plan, with a view to verifying opportunities for collaboration in areas of common interest; the security of supply chains; transatlantic coordination on the challenges and opportunities posed by China; the preparation of the next NATO Summit, which will be held in Washington on 9-11 July on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance.
In the USA there is a large and well-integrated Italian-American community (more than 20 million), in addition to more than 325,000 Italian citizens residing in the USA. Last year, the USA represented the third destination market for Italian exportswith an exchange of approximately 102 billion dollars (with a surplus of 44 in favor of Italy), and the presence of Italian companies in every economic-industrial sector, including the defense and aerospace sectors.
The Canada is an important partner for Italy (around 12 billion euros of trade between January and November 2023, +1.1% on the previous year). The trade balance is favorable to Italy (+4.2 billion in the first 11 months of 2023) and there is a high level of complementarity (manufacturing specialization and innovation in Italy and abundance of raw materials in Canada). The role of the community of Italian origin is important (approximately 1.6 million, half of whom live in Ontario, the region of which Toronto is part).