ABU DHABI- The United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Italy have held the third round of their Strategic Dialogue to further bolster cooperation in multiple domains, including areas of trade, investment, education, culture and energy.

This dialogue session was headed by H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Angelino Alfano in the presence of Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashimy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Dr. Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of State, as well as Saqr Nasser Al Raisi, Ambassador of the UAE to Italy, and Mohammed Sharaf Al Hashemi, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Economic and Trade Affairs.

Discussions during the meeting touched on the latest regional developments, with particular emphasis on the situation in Libya, Syria and Yemen, with all parties affirming the paramount importance of making all possible efforts to combat all forms of terrorism and extremism.

H.H. Sheikh Abdullah underlined the UAE's keenness to strengthen relations with Italy across all fields to the common good of the two countries' peoples, pointing out that the last period has seen cooperation between the two nations significantly growing across all fields.

The Italian top diplomat lauded the impressive transformation drive witnessed across all areas of life in the UAE, and the prestigious positioning boasted by the country on the regional and international levels thanks to the policy adopted by the country's wise leadership.

Both Sheikh Abdullah and Minister Alfano witnessed during the meeting the signing of a contract on Italy's participation in the EXPO 2020 Dubai, by Najeeb Mohammed Al-Ali, the Executive Director of the Expo 2020 Bureau, and Dr. Paolo Glisenti , Commissioner-General of the Italian Pavilion in the premier event.



Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2018.