President Bajram Begaj is holding this Thursday a joint conference with his Italian counterpart Sergio Mattarella, who is in Tirana, as part of his official visit to Albania.

In his speech, Begaj underlined that Albania welcomes the increase in investments from Italy, as he considered the latter as the country's most important trade partner.

Furthermore, he added that Italy is a friend of Albania, while he thanked the neighboring country for the support it has given for the integration of Albania in the EU.

"Today we shared the opinion that frequent high-level visits are important priorities that strengthen the level of cooperation between the two countries. Italy is a dear friend and unsparing supporter. We are grateful that Italy has set as a priority the support of our integration in the EU. Italy is our first trading partner. Cooperation has been very good in the field of education as well. We value and encourage cooperation between our university institutions", declared President Bajram Begaj.