The Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli, held an introductory meeting with the new Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Italy to Georgia, Enrico Valvo, where the sides discussed the prospects of cooperation between Georgia and Italy.

The Minister thanked Enrico Valvo for all the joint projects implemented by the Italian side at all stages of education, including offering diverse exchange programs for students, academic and administrative staff.

The meeting focused on the unique project of Kutaisi International University and the future prospects of its development, for which Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili and his family invested 1 billion euros. According to Mikheil Chkhenkeli, Kutaisi International University is actively cooperating with leading universities and research centers in the world and welcomes the implementation of joint programs with leading Italian universities.

For his part, Enrico Valvo expressed his readiness to actively cooperate with Kutaisi International University in this regard.

Furthermore, Mikheil Chkhenkeli informed the Italian ambassador that a Hadronic Therapy center will be set up on the university premises, where, along with the treatment of oncological diseases, modern research in medical and nuclear physics will be carried out. It is also important that Professor Roberto Orecchia, Scientific Director of the European Cancer Institute in Milan, will be actively involved in the academic and research process of the university and will become a member of the Supervisory Board.

Exhibition projects in the field of culture, implemented in cooperation with the National Museum of Georgia, were also discussed at the meeting.

The sides discussed new perspectives of cooperation in the field of sports in order to promote healthy life and deepen relations between the youth of the two countries.