During this trip, he had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican and meetings with the presidents of Italy and Portugal.
President Luis Abinader returned to the country this Saturday afternoon after his trip to Europe, where he had a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican and met with the presidents of Italy and Portugal.
The President arrived in Dominican territory around 4:30 in the afternoon and was received by the Minister of Defense, Lieutenant General Carlos Luciano Díaz Morfa; the Commander General of the Dominican Air Force (FARD), Major General Carlos Febrillet Rodríguez and the Commander of the First Dominican Regiment of the 
Presidential Guard, Brigadier General Guillermo Caro Cruz.
Audience with Pope Francis
During his stay in Europe, Abinader was received in a private audience by Pope Francis which lasted about 30 minutes.
During the meeting, the Supreme Pontiff congratulated the Dominican president for his reelection in the last elections held in the country and discussed issues of interest, both international and local.
The Dominican president was accompanied by his wife, First Lady Raquel Arbaje and his three daughters.
After the meeting, the traditional exchange of gifts and the greeting of the pontiff to those present took place.
After the meeting with the Pope, the Dominican leader met with the Secretary of State of the Holy See, His Most Reverend Eminence Pietro Parolin.
Meeting with the President of Italy
Luis Abinader also held a meeting with his counterpart of the Italian Republic, Sergio Mattarella, at the Quirinal Palace.
The Dominican president took the opportunity to invite Mattarella to visit the country in the framework of the 170th anniversary of bilateral relations and asked him to work to increase direct flights from different parts of Italy, with the objective of further strengthening tourism and commercial exchange.
The President also spoke with the Italian President about the possibility of signing a professional mobility agreement to take Dominicans to Italy to work in strategic sectors where this European nation has needs.
The Head of State requested to advance in an agreement for the homologation of the driver’s license for Dominicans and to open a channel of cooperation to acquire Italian military equipment to further strengthen the Dominican Armed Forces.
Agenda with the President of Portugal
Likewise, during the trip, President Abinader visited Lisbon, Portugal, where he met with his counterpart of that country, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who highlighted the leadership of the Dominican president, whom he defined as a great leader of Central America and the Caribbean.
De Sousa said that the leadership of the Dominican President transcends the international level, for which he invited him to participate in the Peace Conference on Ukraine, to be held in mid-June in Switzerland.
In this meeting, at the Belem Palace, seat of the Portuguese government, they also agreed to strengthen international relations between the two countries and to expand those signed a year and a half ago.
Abinader also highlighted the leadership of the Portuguese president.
The Dominican president emphasized that this collaboration will be in areas such as Digital Transformation, in the Simplex program, which will serve as advice for the Zero Bureaucracy program that exists in the Dominican Republic, aimed at improving the quality of public services.
He also highlighted the area where Portugal has centuries of experience, such as the oceans and its navy, in order to collaborate and make our seas safer, not only on the coasts but also in the sustainability of the seas and oceans.
During his visit to Portugal, President Abinader toured the facilities of the Agency for Administrative Modernization (AMA).
At the same time, AMA initiatives and projects for administrative modernization and digital transformation of public administration (AMA/PT leader) were shown.
Source:Diariolibre.com
Know More: News
