FLORENCE, ITALY – Italy are looking to the US for lessons on growth, Premier Matteo Renzi said after talks with President Barack Obama at the White House Friday April 17, 2015.
The former mayor of Florence Matto Renzi said the US was a model for growth and the Milan Expo could be the chance to start a new war on poverty. Obama, who said the US would back Italian efforts to promote stability in Libya, praised Renzi for putting the economic accent in Europe and at home on reforms as well as flexibility to move beyond austerity, adding that he felt Italian because he loved Italy.
The US president praised Renzi’s energy and said he was on the right track with his ambitious plans to implement sweeping structural reforms to the economy and political system.
Libya, Greece, the migrant crisis, Iran and the transatlantic trade deal (TTP) were main topics of the conversation at the White House.
“The experience of US growth is a model for Europe and we need a new season of growth and investments – Renzi said -. We started in 2014 but there’s still a lot to do. American leadership is a reference point”.
A Europe based on austerity alone “is going nowhere,” Renzi said. “It’s important to keep your accounts in order but you have to bet on growth,” he said.
On the proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the US and the EU, Renzi predicted that 2015 will be produce “a turning point”.
Moving to this year’s flagship event in Italy, Renzi said the Milan Expo world’s fair would provide an opportunity to wage a new war on poverty.
Obama, who said the US would back Italian efforts to promote stability in Libya, praised Renzi for putting the economic accent in Europe and at home on reforms as well as flexibility to move beyond austerity, adding that he felt Italian because he loved Italy.
Obama said: “Matteo’s approach is right: to move forward on reforms but with flexibility for demand and investment”. Obama said he felt in tune with Renzi and also felt Italian. “Sadly I don’t have Italian ancestors but I consider myself an Italian because I love everything about Italy,” he said.
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