By Angelo Amante
ROME (Reuters) -Italy and Algeria agreed to work together to fight terrorism and control migration during an intergovernmental meeting in Rome on Wednesday, documents showed, while companies signed off on deals on sectors including energy and telecommunications.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune at the 17th-century Villa Doria Pamphili, after a trip to Algiers by Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani in March.
Algeria is Rome’s leading trading partner in Africa, with trade worth almost 14 billion euros ($16.4 billion) while Rome’s investments there amount to 8.5 billion, Italy said.
According to a document seen by Reuters, a memorandum will be signed between Italy and Algeria on fighting terrorism and its financing. The document did not say which threats the countries were focused on.
The two nations will also agree on a plan to coordinate the search and rescue operations for migrants who attempt the dangerous sea crossing from North Africa to Europe. Meloni’s right-wing government was elected in 2022 on a mandate to curb migrant arrivals.
On the business side, Italian energy group Eni this month signed a production sharing contract with oil and gas company Sonatrach worth $1.3 billion to explore and develop hydrocarbons in Algeria.
A document said the two companies will sign an additional agreement on the sidelines of the summit to strengthen their cooperation.
Eni buys gas from Sonatrach under a long-term contract that has made the north African country one of the key fuel suppliers for Italy after Rome severed ties with Russia’s Gazprom following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
A separate deal will involve Submarine cable company Sparkle, a unit of Telecom Italia (TIM), which is set to be sold to a consortium led by Italy’s Treasury later this year.
Sparkle will sign a preliminary agreement with Algerie Telecom for a new subsea cable connecting the two countries.
“Algeria is a strategic partner, and we are working hard to make this partnership ever broader, stronger and more diversified,” Foreign Minister Tajani said during a speech at a business forum with over 400 companies from the two nations.
($1 = 0.8521 euros)
(Reporting by Angelo Amante; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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