Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu met on Friday at the Victoria Palace of Government with Italy's ambassador to Romania Alfredo Maria Durante Magnoni, in the run-up to the upcoming joint sitting of the governments of Romania and Italy, scheduled on February 14 and 15 in Rome."The sitting of the two governments is yet another excellent opportunity for us to work together for our citizens and provide new levers of collaboration to Romanian and Italian investors. Deepening economic cooperation and attracting Italian investments to Romania are priorities of our bilateral relationship," Ciolacu said as cited in a release of the Executive.Talks tackled the bilateral agenda, European topics and regional security, with particular focus on economic cooperation between the two states, the cited source said.The Romanian-Italian Economic Forum will take place on the sidelines of the joint government meeting, with the participation of over 100 companies from sectors like energy, large infrastructure and defense."Italy is Romania's second largest trading partner, the second destination market for Romanian exports, and the second most important source country for imports to Romania. In 2023, bilateral trade hit an all-time record high of over 20 billion euros. Also in 2023, Italy ranked 6th of the list of foreign investors to Romania. More than 70 percent of the share capital of Italian companies is invested in Romanian industrial and energy companies," the release shows.