(see related stories).
Sunday's international conference on
development and migration at the foreign ministry in Rome "is
the first step towards drawing up the Mattei Plan that Italy
will present at the Italy-Africa Conference in November",
diplomatic sources said on Saturday.
Organised in haste on the initiative of Premier Giorgia Meloni,
the meeting of leaders of Mediterranean and Gulf countries and
the European Union "aims to govern the migratory phenomenon,
fight human trafficking and promote economic development
according to a new model of cooperation between states, through
the joint planning and implementation of initiatives and
projects in six main sectors: agriculture; energy;
infrastructure; education-training; health; water and hygiene,"
the sources added.
Meloni announced a plan for Africa named after Eni founder
Enrico Mattei during a visit to the Ethiopian capital Addis
Ababa in April.
"We are working on a series of initiatives regarding Africa,"
she said as she arrived at her hotel.
"The next Italy-Africa intergovernmental summit, which takes
place every two years, will be in the autumn and it could be the
occasion to present our Mattei plan," said Meloni of the project
reportedly focusing on cooperation on energy and curbing
migration flows
"In the meantime, we are working in cooperation with African
countries because you cannot assume you know the best solutions
without dialogue with those who are directly affected," she
added.
Photo: Premier Giorgia Meloni during her visit to Addis Ababa in
April.
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