Remarks by President Meloni with Prime Minister Trudeau
Saturday, 2 March 2024
President Meloni: Thank you very much, Justin. Thank you very much and thank you for this warm welcome on this tour that I’m doing in the G7 countries to share the main topics I would like to bring to the G7 Leaders’ Summit that we will have in Puglia in June. I will be very happy to have you there, where you can taste also a bit of the Italian traditions and so on.
I think you are right when you say that there are many things that we are sharing and that we will have to share, and I am happy about that for you will be the next President of the G7, so it is important that we do work that can go on through the years. So, there are many results of the Japanese Presidency that I will be bringing through the Italian one, such as, for example, artificial intelligence and the role of the Indo-Pacific, but also the respect of the international rules-based order, so support to Ukraine, in this very difficult Middle East crisis, on which we also have to talk a lot, avoiding an escalation of the conflict. I was discussing that yesterday with Joe Biden too. And then, for example, as I was saying: artificial intelligence. I know it is a topic that we share, for it is a tool, but, as any one, it can be bad or good; it depends on how we govern it. So I’m concerned moreover about the impact that artificial intelligence, if we don’t govern it in the right way, could have on the labour market for example. So, I think it is a global issue that we have to discuss together. And I know that we are on the same path on many of these problems that we have to discuss in this very difficult era in which we are governing our countries.
And then, on the bilateral level, I’m very happy about the work we are doing today, for we are beginning a new era of our relationship, trying to enhance our cooperation. I think there are many, many topics on which we can do that, also for, as you know, we have this very big community here of Italian Canadians. So, next time, in an international meeting, I expect you to talk also a bit in Italian. So, we add another language, and I can help you on that if you want.
PM Trudeau: Grazie!
President Meloni: Prego! But, in any case - research, infrastructures, artificial intelligence, sustainable environmental transition: there are many, many things on which I think the Italian capacity can be put also on the table, and I hope that also on investments we can discuss a lot.
So, there is a big, big work to do. On the G7 Presidency and about our enhanced cooperation, my task is that we are concrete. So, we need to work on concrete results; it is better to have less but they have to be concrete. So, they have to change things, and that is something on which I know I can very well work with you.
So, thank you for hosting us and thank you for the work that we’ll do together.