year joint agreement was signed by Prince Faisal Abdullah Al-Faisal, president of Al-Etimad Modern Business Solutions Company, and Simone Petroni, Italian Consul General, for the operation of an Italian visa center at the Joint Visa center in Jeddah, Wednesday. “I really look at this as an opportunity for us to be able to serve the Italian mission here in Jeddah. It is a very important addition to our services and to our offerings as it will enable us to enhance our capabilities with multiple missions. I am looking forward to starting the process very soon, and hopefully it will continue with our joint collaboration,” said Prince Faisal. Consul General Petroni said that he looks forward to the enhancement of the relationship between his country and the Kingdom and that the opening of the visa section, which will be in operation as of Saturday, will certainly help in this regard. “When we talk about visas, we have to think about very technical issues regarding how any country regulates the foreigners who are entering it. The issuing of visas is also a step forward in relations between countries. As citizens of Saudi Arabia visit Italy and vice-versa, they will be able to share each other's cultural, economic and educational experiences,” he said. He also said that Saudi Arabia and Italy have strong bilateral relations, from trade to investment and in other fields of bilateral interest. “Our main aim in transferring our visa services to the joint visa section is that we think this decision will improve the quality and quantity of our visa operations. Quality because we cannot provide such high standards of service at our small visa section in the consulate, and quantity because here we will be able to provide better services to a larger number of users,” the consul general said.
