President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid an official visit to Italy yesterday where he met with his counterpart President Sergio Matarella.

The two leaders held a 50-minute closed-door meeting where bilateral relations between the two countries were discussed.

President Erdoğan was later in the day scheduled to receive executives of leading Italian firms at a meeting organized in coordination with Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) and hosted by Italian Institute for International Political Studies (ISPI) and Pirelli.

At the meeting, scheduled to be attended by senior representatives of Italian companies operating in sectors such as automotive, machinery, the defense industry, food and drug, the investment environment in Turkey, investment opportunities, actual economic developments and new reforms were expected to be discussed.

Ahead of his departure to the Vatican late Sunday, President Erdoğan said that there is great potential for cooperation between Turkey and Italy, especially in terms of the defense industry. The president also indicated that bilateral trade volume between the two countries was nearly $20 billion last year. However, he also said that the potential of the two countries was well above this figure. President Erdoğan informed the audience that the two countries have set a target of $30 billion in bilateral trade volume by 2020, adding that they will discuss the mutual steps that need to be taken to in order reach this target during the visit.