On May 4, the capital of Italy hosted the talks between President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov and Prime Minister of the Republic of Italy Matteo Renzi. Warmly welcoming the high Turkmen guest and thanking him for accepting the invitation to visit the Republic of Italy, Matteo Renzi has emphasized that the meeting marks a new and important chapter in the history of the interstate dialogue advancement. Having spoken of Italy’s willingness to establish full-scale cooperation with Turkmenistan, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that the current negotiations would make it possible to determine priority areas of mutually beneficial partnership, and to give it renewed impetus, meeting the interests of the parties and present-day requirements. Appreciative to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi of the invitation to pay a visit to the Republic of Italy and the cordial welcome, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov congratulated the head of the Government of Italy on the successful opening of the “EXPO-2015” World Exhibition. The head of the Turkmen state stressed that the exposition of this magnitude would certainly attract attention of the global community to the topical issues related to the provision of food to the entire population of the planet. As the nation’s leader highlighted, Turkmenistan is an advocate of tackling today’s burning issues by combined efforts, what contributes to strengthening of security, stable and sustainable economic development on a global scale. Pending the subject, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov noted with satisfaction the strengthening of bilateral interaction in the trade-economic field. As the nation’s leader said, a number of projects in the fuel and energy sector are being successfully implemented in Turkmenistan with participation of Italian companies. There are also good opportunities for cooperation on such important international issues, as energy security, creation of alternative transit corridors and transport routes on the Eurasian continent. Having stressed special importance attached by Turkmenistan to the development of science, education and art, preservation of historical and cultural values, President Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov has noted the contribution of Italian scientists and archaeologists, who have been carrying out archeological excavations and investigations of the historical sites, centers of development of the world civilizations in our country for many years. Having expressed confidence that the Turkmen-Italian relations would continue to develop progressively, the head of Turkmenistan expressed his belief in mutual interest and readiness of the parties for further intensification and promotion of mutually beneficial partnership. During the meeting, the sides discussed a wide range of issues of the Turkmen-Italian cooperation, having specified its priorities. The trade-economic sphere, fuel and energy complex, industrial sector, transport and communications, agriculture, and tourist industry were outlined among promising trends of cooperation. Speaking of the significance of partnership in the humanitarian sphere, the nation’s leader Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov and Matteo Renzi spoke in favor of strengthening and advancing the cultural and scientific-educational ties between Turkmenistan and Italy. The parties also exchanged views on a number of topical issues of regional and international policy of mutual interest. Upon completion of the talks, the ceremony of signing bilateral documents was held in the “Galeone” Hall. The documents signed are: the Memorandum of Economic Cooperation between the Ministry of Economy and Development of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Economic Development of the Republic of Italy; the 2015-2016 Program of Cooperation between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy; the Memorandum of Cooperation in science between the Academy of Sciences of Turkmenistan and the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research of the Republic of Italy; the Agreement on the Exchange of Information on Taxation Matters between the Government of Turkmenistan and the Government of the Republic of Italy. Following the results of the talks, President of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdymuhamedov and Prime Minister of the Republic of Italy Matteo Renzi signed the Joint Statement.