Image Credit :WAM
Dubai, UAE — May 2026 — The UAE’s Minister of Economy and Co-Chairman of the Investopia Board of Trustees, held a series of bilateral meetings with ministers and senior government officials from Italy and Malta on the sidelines of the fourth edition of Investopia Europe – Milan, which kicked off on May 15.
The meetings focused on strengthening economic, investment, and tourism cooperation between the UAE and its European partners, while exploring new opportunities to build strategic partnerships in priority sectors for both the UAE and European markets.
According to the Emirates News Agency, Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri met with Italian Minister of Enterprises and ‘Made in Italy’ Adolfo Urso, discussing opportunities to expand economic and investment cooperation in light of the growing ties between the two countries.
The number of Italian companies operating in the UAE reached approximately 4,900 firms by the end of March 2026. Talks covered advanced industries, innovation, technology, entrepreneurship, and startup ecosystems in both markets.
With Italian Tourism Minister Gianmarco Mazzi, the minister explored ways to boost tourist flows between the two countries, connect travel and aviation routes, and develop sustainable tourism destinations. The discussions also touched on luxury hospitality and technology-driven tourism.
A meeting with Italian Economy and Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti addressed prospects for deepening financial and investment cooperation, expanding partnerships in new economy and sustainability sectors, and advancing collaboration in fintech, capital markets, and private sector financing.
Bin Touq also met with Attilio Fontana, President of the Lombardy Region, discussing knowledge exchange and cooperation in innovation, advanced manufacturing — sectors for which Lombardy is internationally renowned — as well as entrepreneurship, tourism, and hospitality.
Rounding out the meetings, the minister sat down with Zachary Borg, Malta’s Special Envoy to the Gulf region, to review bilateral cooperation prospects, with a focus on services, digital economy, innovation, and tourism, as well as broadening private sector engagement between the two countries.
Commenting on the meetings, Bin Touq reaffirmed that the UAE, guided by its leadership’s vision and its open, collaborative economic model, continues to cement its standing as a trusted global economic partner.
He noted that the country’s economic relations with both Italy and Malta are seeing steady growth across areas of mutual interest, including innovation, knowledge, technology, tourism and hospitality, industry, clean energy, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, logistics, and real estate.
