Damascus, (SANA)- Italian President Giorgio Napolitano and his wife will pay a three-day state visit to Syria this week upon an invitation extended by President Bashar al-Assad.

During his visit, President Napolitano is scheduled to hold talks with President al-Assad and senior Syrian officials on bilateral relations, Syria's relations with Europe and the situation in the region.

Italy is Syria's first European trade partner. Syria and Italy have an agreement on infrastructure development, insurance sectors, renewable energy resources, and on the creation of a Syrian-Italian forum for investment and joint cooperation.

Syrian and Italian Ministries of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement for cultural cooperation, agreement for technical and financial cooperation, and a memorandum of understanding for permanent bilateral exchange of political consultations.

The Syrian-Italian Businessmen Council was launched on March, the 6th; the Council includes representatives for economic activities from both countries, as to strengthen bilateral economic exchange, and expertise exchange in business, economy, and services fields.

President Giorgio Napolitano was born in Naples on June 29th, 1925. He graduated in law from Naples University in December 1947. He was elected to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1953, and with the exception of the 4th Parliament he was a Member of Parliament until 1996, always re-elected in the Naples constituency. From 1989 to 1992 he was a Member of the European Parliament.

On June 3rd 1992, in the 11th Parliament, he was elected Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, and remained in office until the end of that Parliament in April 1994. During the 13th Parliament he served as Minister of the Interior and for the Coordination of Civil Protection in the Prodi Government, from May 1996 to October 1998. Since 1995 he has been the President of the Italian Council of the European Movement. From June 1999 to June 2004 he chaired the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

On May 10th 2006 he was elected President of the Republic with 543 votes. He was sworn-in on May 15th, 2006.

H. Said /Idelbi/ Al-Ibrahim