Hajiji (right) with Langella during the courtesy call.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah looks forward to stronger bilateral cooperation with Italy, particularly in investment opportunities in the oil and gas, tourism and higher education sectors.
Chief Minister Datuk Seri Haji Hajiji Haji Noor said Sabah welcomed the interest of the Italian Government and businesses in exploring business opportunities in the State.
“We welcome the interest of the Italian government and businesses to explore the business opportunities in Sabah further,” he said after meeting Italy Ambassador to Malaysia Raffaele Langella at Menara Kinabalu here today.
Speaking after the courtesy call, Langella said Italy was very interested in exploring opportunities in Sabah.
“The interest in Italy is huge. They know there are many opportunities to explore in Sabah. But they need assistance, perhaps in scouting for investments, so I discussed with the Chief Minister how we are going to go about it.
“Next year, it will be Visit Sabah Year 2027, so we would like to give a helping hand (in promoting Sabah),” he said.
Langella said Italy was also keen to explore opportunities in Sabah’s higher education sector.
“University cooperation is a very interesting field and promising. Italian universities are more and more competitive, and they are very much interested in expanding their activities in this part of the world, and in Sabah in particular,” he said.
He hoped the meeting would pave the way for stronger relations and lead to meaningful decisions in the future.
Also present was Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister Datuk Ceasar Mandela Malakun.
