Italian Ambassador: We support the Kurdistan Region and Iraq in every possible way

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Italy's ambassador to Baghdad Maurizio Greganti told Kurdistan 24 on Wednesday that Italy is supporting Iraq and the Kurdistan Region in 'every possible way'.

"Let me talk a little bit about what we're doing in the Kurdistan Region, which is very important," Italy's ambassador to Baghdad Maurizio Greganti, said. "As I said, we have the presence of our companies, Italian companies are in this market. It's a historic presence, and we are doing everything we can to support it."

"So Italian companies are present in all sectors, food, fashion, design, furniture," he added. Moreover, Italy is also active in agriculture.

"We are (also) doing a great deal also for the IDP (internally displaced persons) and refugee camps (that host Yezidis and Syrian Kurds)."

He also said that there are "many challenges which are faced by the Kurdistan Region. We know that and I can assure you that we support the Kurdistan Region and Iraq in every possible way."

"In the security field, Italy has been very active since 2003 with a mission and assistance by our advisors and military, which is a non combat (mission)."

"So this is advising, training, capacity building and we are convinced that the more we do this, the more we will strengthen the Iraqi state and the Kurdistan Region and that will increase the sovereignty also the you know their capacity to face challenges also coming from abroad."

Italy's ambassador Greganti also said the "situation in Iraq is very good now because finally after one year of negotiations, we have a (new) government in Baghdad."

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"So Italy welcomes very much this development and we are going to support the Iraqi government and the new institutions as much as we can. There is a long standing friendship and partnership between Italy and Iraq and we are ready to work with this new government." 

"This new government has a very important program, the (Iraq) Prime Minister knows very well what are the challenges and we are very confident that they will do everything possible to to face them and to bring a solution to the many challenges that Iraq is."

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He also added that climate change is a real threat to Iraq. 

Italy's ambassador Greganti also added that Italy is very active in development cooperation and the health sector, such as building hospitals, training nurses and health personnel.

Moreover, Italy is very active in the cultural and archeological field in Iraq. "We have 18 archaeological missions all over Iraq," he said, with Italy being the foreign country with the highest number of archeologists. "Eight of these missions are in Kurdistan, in all governorates."

Read More: First archeological park opens in Duhok 

Furthermore, Kurdish and Italian officials two weeks ago opened the first archeological park in Iraq in Faida in the Duhok province.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Minister of Municipalities and Tourism, Sasan Awny, the Italian Consul General Michele Camerota, and the Italian ambassador to Iraq Maurizio Greganti participated in the inauguration of the archeological park.

The project is led by the University of Udine and with support from Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) and the Italian consulate.

"This is the first archeological park in Iraq. And this is very important, they discovered very important rock reliefs from the Assyrian age," Italian ambassador Greganti said.

"We think that this will be very important for the heritage and the identity of Iraq and the KRI (Kurdistan Region of Iraq) because this country has a historical depth to its identity that you know, only a few countries in the world can claim."

"That's very important both for the Iraq and KRI, right so Italy is doing its best to support them."