A delegation representing Italian institutional organisations held meetings with Qatari officials from the private and public sectors yesterday to discuss ways to strengthen Qatar-Italy cooperation in the fields of agriculture, livestock production, and food distribution.

Italian National Coldiretti Union national president Roberto Moncalvo and Filiera Agricola Italiana Inc national president Ettore Prandini met with HE the Minister of Municipality and Environment Mohamed bin Abdullah al-Rumaihi and Qatar Chamber board member Mohamed bin Ahmed al-Obaidly, among other officials as part of their two-day visit to Qatar.
The meetings were organised with the support of the Embassy of Italy in Qatar and the local office of the Italian Trade Agency (ITA). According to the embassy, the meetings, which include main players of the Italian agricultural production and network, also aim to offer Doha “a very significant support” in its food chain distribution.
The embassy said Coldiretti is the main institutional agricultural organisation in terms of the number of associates in Italy and in Europe, with 400,000 associated farms and 1.6mn associate farmers. 
Coldiretti oversees, controls, and supports the entire Italian agricultural production through an extensive network of 20 Regional Federations, 97 Town Federations, 802 Area Offices, and 5,668 Territorial Departments.
Filiera Agricola Italiana is Coldiretti’s commercial wing and through its brand develops commercial projects and certifies the ‘100% Made in Italy’ products. Its brand guarantees agricultural values and promotes an ethical management model of the entire agriculture production chain, according to the highest standards, from raw materials to the final products, the embassy said.
During the delegation’s meeting with Qatar Chamber, Moncalvo gave an overview of Coldiretti, which focuses on organising the work of agricultural companies and providing farmers with machines, fertilisers, and materials for agriculture, while working on harvesting and processing crops.
Moncalvo also called for joint efforts to establish bilateral investments between Qatari investors working in the fields of agriculture and food production and their Italian counterparts.
Similarly, al-Obaidly stressed on the importance of exchanging visits between businessmen and investors from both countries to discuss opportunities for joint cooperation and establish trade alliances, and to benefit from the attractive investment climate in Qatar and Italy.
According to al-Obaidly, the Qatari economy is attractive to investments in terms of opportunities, privileges, and legislation, especially in light of the state’s focus to launch a large number of infrastructure and logistics-related projects.
He also expressed Qatar Chamber's willingness to encourage the establishment of successful partnerships between private sector companies in both countries.