President John D. Mahama today held separate meetings with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and President Sergio Mattarella in Rome.

The closed door meetings with the two Italian leaders focused on the deepening of bilateral relations between the two countries and discussions on a number of issues on which the two countries have shared values and positions.

President Mahama noted the long years of cooperation between Ghana and Italy from the days of Ghana's first President, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.

While acknowledging the large number of Italian civil engineering and construction firms in Ghana, President Mahama said Italy's assistance with Ghana's private sector development efforts with a Fund, continues to support with the promotion of SMEs.

The meetings also discussed Ghana's interest in leveraging Italy's experience in Agriculture and Agro Processing, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea. migration and human trafficking.

President Mahama urged Italy to take advantage of its long engagement with Africa to help other European countries to understand the African situation, and galvanise them to support various initiatives on the continent. This includes the fight against terrorists, the quest for peace and stability and the development of migration policies.

He reminded Italy that it has a stake in helping restore stability to Libya, because of its long-standing association with the North African country.

President Mahama also argued that the world must work to ensure stability in nations. He said with stability, democracy will evolve and flourish. President Mahama said the instability of North Africa could adversely affect the Sahel Region, West Africa and also Central Africa. [