Libya Strengthens Cooperation With Italy With Air Transport Deals
Libya and Italy signed on Sunday two deals on air transport cooperation. The agreements, one on air transport and one a memorandum on technical cooperation, were signed by Italian Civil Aviation Authority President Pierluigi Di Palma and the Libyan Undersecretary of Transportation Khaled Swesi in the Libyan capital Tripoli, said a statement issued by the Libyan ministry of transportation.
The air transport agreement, the Libyan ministry said in the statement, will allow the resumption of flights between Europe and Libya.
The memorandum of technical cooperation between civil aviation institutions will contribute to raising the efficiency of civil aviation personnel, the statement added.
Direct Flights between Libya and Italy were resumed earlier in September after a nearly ten-year halt.
In December 2014, the European Commission banned all Libyan airlines from operating in EU airspace, citing security and safety concerns.
Earlier this month, the head of the Libyan-Italian Chamber Anwar Abu Sitta, revealed that an understanding had been reached with the commercial partners in Italy to increase trade between the two countries, transfer technology and help Libya localise different industries.
Abu Sitta was speaking on the sidelines of the Libyan-Italian Forum held on December 6 in Rome.
He indicated that the volume of trade during the first three months of 2023 was expected to reach more than $4 billion, calling on Italian companies to participate in the second Italian Industries Agents Exhibition at the Tripoli International Fairgrounds next year in coordination with the General Exhibitions Authority of the ministry of economy and trade.
He added that Italy’s market share in Libya exceeded 14 percent and the value of sales exceeded 2.2 billion euros, with half of Italian exports to Libya being refined petroleum products (53.9 percent), followed by food and beverage products (13.3 percent ) and machinery (8.1 percent).
Italy is the second largest destination for Libyan exports, most of which are crude oil and natural gas.
Source : The Arab Weekly
