Italy and Kuwait have adopted a four-year Action Plan intended to guide bilateral cooperation from 2027 to 2030, following talks in Kuwait involving Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Amir, Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
The framework identifies investment, energy, infrastructure and defence as central areas for closer work. It is a statement of agreed priorities and mechanisms, rather than a funding announcement or confirmation that individual projects have begun. Its practical effect will depend on later decisions, agreements and delivery by the bodies involved.
A framework for regular contact
The plan calls for regular meetings and exchanges involving the two governments and relevant ministers. It also envisages annual bilateral consultations between the foreign ministries under an existing strategic-dialogue arrangement. Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs are to coordinate implementation and monitor progress through regular meetings under existing bilateral mechanisms.
Alongside the bilateral agenda, the document places emphasis on coordination over wider international questions. These include the energy and digital transitions, migration, action against trafficking and transnational crime, and multilateral cooperation. The leaders’ discussions also covered maritime-route security and stronger links between the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Economic and energy ambitions
On economic cooperation, the plan aims to increase trade, encourage industrial partnerships and promote mutual investment, with particular attention to small and medium-sized enterprises. It proposes the use of financial mechanisms, guarantees, insurance and export-credit instruments to support partnerships, but does not assign a budget, name beneficiaries or commit money to a particular scheme.
A business and investment forum is envisaged at least once every two years. That is an intended mechanism for promoting opportunities, not a confirmed event with a published venue or timetable. The plan also encourages exchanges of technology and expertise, including on projects regarded by both countries as strategically important.
Energy cooperation is described in similarly forward-looking terms. The two sides propose encouraging company partnerships, joint initiatives and work on innovative technologies. The agenda includes sustainable fuels such as renewable and low-carbon hydrogen, biofuels and biogas, as well as renewable-energy storage and carbon-capture, utilisation and storage technologies. Cooperation on electricity generation, storage and distribution is intended to support more efficient, reliable and accessible grids.
None of those passages confirms a new power plant, fuel project, grid investment or commercial contract. They establish subjects on which the governments and relevant companies may seek cooperation during the period covered by the plan.
Defence, security and related agreements
The defence section builds on a defence-cooperation agreement signed in Rome in January 2026. It sets out an intention to expand collaboration, explore joint activities and exercises in both countries, and increase interaction, training and education between the armed forces. It also envisages dialogue on space, cyber defence, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and other emerging technologies.
The plan proposes broader cooperation on matters including coastal patrols, maritime law enforcement, search and rescue, protection of strategic infrastructure, customs work and crisis management. These are areas for possible cooperation, not a declaration that a joint operation, exercise or new security mechanism is already under way.
Three associated instruments were exchanged during the visit. One memorandum concerns direct-investment promotion between the relevant investment-promotion bodies. A letter of intent covers defence-capability development and industrial cooperation between Kuwait’s Ministry of Defence and an Italian company. A separate memorandum on advisory services and training between the Kuwait National Guard and Italy’s Carabinieri was initialled, rather than presented as a completed training programme.
The adopted plan also reaches beyond the sectors highlighted at the meeting. It includes possible work on tourism, digital technologies, agriculture, cultural heritage, health, disability inclusion and consular matters. In each case, the document sets an agenda for cooperation rather than a completed outcome. The significance of the meeting lies in the adoption of a common structure for 2027-30; progress will be measured by the specific arrangements and results that follow.
