“We have a concrete and ambitious goal to achieve together over the next five years: to reach 40 billion euros in trade and 25 billion euros in mutual direct investments by 2030.” This is the direction indicated by the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Adolfo Urso , speaking in Ankara at the first meeting of the Italy-Turkey Ministerial Task Force for Industrial Cooperation (STI3 Committee), co-chaired by the Minister of Industry and Technology of the Republic of Turkey, Mehmet Fatih Kacır , and concluded with the signing of the joint declaration between the two countries.

An agreement that represents "a qualitative leap in relations between the two countries," as underlined by Minister Urso , which aims to structurally strengthen industrial partnerships between Italy and Turkey, leveraging increasingly advanced production integration and mutual investments in strategic sectors: from aerospace to defense, to household appliances, manufacturing, and the dual transition of the production system.

These are complemented by the new frontiers of cooperation in space, artificial intelligence, critical raw materials, and advanced technologies, and their application in production processes, which are at the heart of the operational roadmap jointly defined by the two ministries.

"There are already numerous Italian companies that have been established in Turkey for years, and Turkish companies that are now successfully investing in Italy's most advanced sectors, helping to strengthen the increasingly solid production integration between the two countries," Urso emphasized. "We can now build a single technological, scientific, and industrial hub between Italy and Turkey, to strengthen our supply chains and make them more competitive."

Today's meeting also takes on significant significance in the current international context, marked by tensions in the Gulf and the Iranian crisis. "We wanted to confirm this meeting," Urso stated, "precisely to send a signal to our people, our businesses, and other countries in the region: today, more than ever, it is necessary to cooperate for development, well-being, peace, and stability. This is an important and timely signal for a country that, like others in the region, is affected by the conflict in the Persian Gulf and in which we must place our trust."

The first meeting of the STI3 Committee implements the guidelines shared by leaders Giorgia Meloni and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the intergovernmental summit in Rome last April, translating that agreement into an operational roadmap aimed at strengthening industrial and technological cooperation and mutual investment.

Urso 's mission to Ankara consisted of two days of meetings with institutions and the business community: yesterday, a first bilateral meeting with Minister Kacır , followed by a meeting at the Embassy with Italian and Turkish companies, on the sidelines of which the minister met representatives of companies interested in investing in Italy.

This morning, a wreath was laid at the Atatürk Mausoleum and a visit to the TÜBİTAK UZAY Space Research Center took place, prior to the ministerial task force meeting at the Ministry of Industry and Technology and the signing of the joint declaration. A qualified Italian institutional and technical delegation took part in the mission, including technicians from MIMIT and the Ministry of Defense, as well as the President of the Italian Space Agency, Teodoro Valente , and representatives of the Italian Institute for Artificial Intelligence for Industry (AI4I), confirming the centrality of high-tech sectors in bilateral cooperation.