Rome, May 26 (EFE). – Costa Rican President Luis Guillermo Solis on Thursday called on Italian investors to strengthen bilateral trade ties and touted the Central American country’s services and medical technology sectors as areas with great potential.

Solis met in Rome with Italian business leaders and later gave a press conference in which he stressed that “trade relations between the two countries are already mature” and called for them to be further bolstered.

On Thursday, Solis was to meet Italian President Sergio Mattarella, and on Friday he will visit Pope Francis.

Italy “has great potential as a destination for our products,” he said, noting that imports are currently focused on fresh fruit.

Costa Rica is looking to expand its offering to include those related to the services sector and tourism, as well as hi-tech manufactured goods such as medical products, Solis said.

“We think we can cooperate with Italian investors in Costa Rica in those areas,” he added.

During his visit, Solis will sign four new bilateral agreements with Italian authorities covering information exchange, extradition, the fight against organized crime and environmental protection. EFE