Milan Oct 12 (IANS/AKI) Italy is a nation focussed on the Arab world its Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said here on Thursday.
"We are a country that looks to the Arab world " he said at the Italian Arab Business Forum .
"They have put a hyphen in my surname and turned it into an Arab one - Al-Fano - but I am not offended " Alfano quipped.
"I come from a Sicily where the Arab presence was important."
There are 500 million consumers in the Mediterranean region who generate 10 percent of the world s gross domestic product 30 percent of its oil and 20 percent of shipping Alfano noted.
"The Expo 2020 world trade fair and other initiatives can provide a bridge to the future."
--IANS/AKI
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