Lusaka, 7 July 2022 (TDI): President of Italy, Sergio Mattarella arrived in the Republic of Zambia on Wednesday, for an official three-day visit.
Il Presidente #Mattarella 🇮🇹 arriva all’aeroporto di Lusaka per la Visita Ufficiale nella Repubblica dello #Zambia 🇿🇲 pic.twitter.com/W4Z9iVu9yE
— Quirinale (@Quirinale) July 6, 2022
The Italian President was received by Stanley Kakubo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
Antonino Maggiore, Italian Ambassador to Zambia, Rodney Sikumba, Minister of Tourism, and senior government officials also received the President.
In addition, The Zambian Army honored him with a quarter guard on his arrival.
Sergio Mattarella will be discussing bilateral talks with the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, on matters of mutual interest. Both leaders will be discussing how they can enhance cooperation at regional, bilateral as well as international levels.
Zambian Foreign Minister’s statement
Stanley Kakubo stated that “President Mattarella’s visit will consolidate the long-standing ties between Italy and Zambia for the mutual benefit of the people”. He confirmed that the Italian President will address the National Assembly of Zambia today.
“Italy and Zambia share good bilateral cooperation and relations premised on mutual respect and shared values. Both states also cooperate through common membership to the United Nations (UN) and other international institutions,” Minister said.
This evening, President of the Republic of Italy 🇮🇹 H.E Mr. Sergio Mattarella arrived in Zambia 🇿🇲 for Bilateral talks with President @HHichilema.
President Mattarella is accompanied by First Lady Ms. Laura Mattarella is the first Italian President to visit Zambia since 1983 pic.twitter.com/uIoe81XIlk
— Hon. Stanley K Kakubo (@HonKakubo1) July 6, 2022
Moreover, Ambassador Antonino Maggiore also considered that relations between both countries would be further strengthened with the visit of President Mattarella.
The Italian President is visiting African countries to an expansion of economic relations with them. Following his visit to Mozambique, where he met Filipe Nyusi, President of Mozambique. Subsequently, the leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in the energy sector.
Italy and Zambia have maintained good ties with each other in different sectors. For instance, during the COVID-19 Pandemic Italian government donated more than 500,000 Pfizer vaccines to Zambia’s Ministry of Health.
Lackson Kasonka Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Health received the vaccines on behalf of the Zambian government. He acknowledged and thanked the government of Italy for working with his government in the pandemic.
The visit will expectedly conclude on the 8th of July 2022.
