Italy’s new ambassador to Cairo, Giampolo Cantini, said on Sunday that economic relations between Egypt and Italy are witnessing a big boom, trade is increasing, and pointed out the importance strategic relations between the two countries, especially in regards to neighboring countries.
During a meeting by the Egyptian-European Business Council on Sunday, Cantini said that there are opportunities to develop and promote tourism between Egypt and Italy and to bring more Italian tourists to Egypt.
Cantini said that Egypt is absorbing Italy’s efforts to reach 1.1 million Italian tourists coming to Egypt.
The Italian ambassador said that his country looks forward to further cooperation with Egypt and aims to inject investments into the Egyptian market during the coming period, especially in the food industry.
Cantini pointed out that there are procedures that will facilitate the work of investors, including the adoption of the new investment law, which has become a mechanism to attract investments. Cantini also explained that the investment law is a great opportunity for investors to enter new fields in Egypt.
Italy appointed Cantini as an ambassador to Egypt in September, more than a year after it recalled the former ambassador Maurizio Massari in the wake of Ph.D. student Giulio Regeni’s murder in Cairo.
Regeni’s murder has strained relations between Egypt and Italy, as Italy maintains that Egyptian authorities did not fully investigate Regeni’s disappearance and murder. The Italian ambassador to Egypt left Cairo in protest last year.
