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Business & EconomyMoncton to MiramichiNew BrunswickTimes and Transcript
Ambassador says Canada-EU trade agreement opens doors for partnerships between Canada and Italy
H.E. Alessandro Cattaneo, right, Italy’s ambassador to Canada, met with New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt in Fredericton Friday afternoon. SUBMITTED
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Italy’s ambassador to Canada is encouraging New Brunswickers to get involved as the two countries collaborate on projects in the future.
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“There is a need for us to explore what we can do better together. Canada and Italy are two economies that are not so much in competition, but are complementary because we specialize in different things,” H.E. Alessandro Cattaneo said in a telephone interview with Brunswick News Friday afternoon, immediately after he met with New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt.
On Saturday, he will be in Moncton to attend the Moncton Italian Association’s gala dinner.
Cattaneo has been Italy’s ambassador to Canada for a year and one of his missions is to promote an increase in trade between the two countries. He said the two countries have a natural friendship that can grow into business partnerships.
“Italy is very interested in developing trade relations and our co-operation. It’s not just selling products. It is about doing things together, creating development, creating jobs and shaping investments,” he said.
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He said energy products – including natural gas, nuclear, wind and solar – are among the possibilities, because Italy is a big consumer of energy. Defence is also a possibility as both countries have committed to increasing their military spending, which could result in new developments and contracts for businesses.
There are also opportunities in computers, cybersecurity, machinery and various infrastructure projects, he said.
Cattaneo said Canada and Italy share a natural friendship and trade agreements, and he would like to help translate that into something more operational as “partners of choice.”
He said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed an agreement for enhanced co-operation between the two countries, an agreement which was updated with Prime Minister Mark Carney.
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“Now we need to make things happen, to work with the people of Canada to connect the dots,” he said. He said English and French are widely spoken in the Italian business community, so language barriers shouldn’t be a problem.
He encouraged New Brunswick businesses to brush up on the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), to see how they could benefit from collaborative projects.
“We need to inform everybody on the opportunities that CETA provides,” he said. “It is a very powerful instrument which allows the two countries to trade with almost no limitations. It’s important that all economic operators are aware of the opportunities that CETA opens up to them.”
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