Italian FM invites Mahlab for conference on Mediterranean future

Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Paolo Gentiloni on Friday invited Egypt's Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab to attend a conference on the future of the Mediterranean region, which will be held in December.

Mahlab met with the top Italian diplomat during his current visit to Italy, in the presence of Egypt's Minister of Trade and Industry Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour and the Egyptian ambassador in Rome.

The two sides emphasized the strategic relations between Egypt and Italy that terrorists attempted to harm by the recent attack on the Italian consulate in Cairo.

Mahlab and Gentiloni affirmed that the two countries' clear position on rejecting terrorism has proven their strong relationship.

Egypt's prime minister and Italy's minister of foreign affairs also discussed a number of regional issues of common concern and emphasized the importance of working together to find solutions to these files.

The talks dealt with the current situation in Libya and ways to confront Daesh militant group.

The two sides also discussed the illegal migration file, and the need for coordination to deal with this phenomenon by political, economic and security ways.

Mahlab is scheduled to wrap up his three-day official visit to Italy late on Friday, after a planned meeting with representatives of major Italian companies that plan to increase their investments in Egypt and another meeting with the Egyptian community in Rome.