(ANSA) - UDINE, NOVEMBER 5 - "I would not speak of a crisis, but a slowing down of the German economy, due to international issues that weigh on the export of both Italy and Germany, two strongly exporting EU countries. A slowdown that has effects on both these closest partners, but I am not so pessimistic about the future, because we are both very solid and we are moving closer to economic growth" That is what the German ambassador to Italy, Viktor Elbling, said today in Udine during his visit to Friuli's capital city, where he met the mayor Pietro Fontanini and the rector of the University of Udine, Roberto Pinton, the regional councilor for finance, Barbara Zilli, then participating in a debate open to the public. "From our meetings - Elbling continued - historic and very close cooperation has emerged, not only in terms of politics but also in economy and culture. There are very intense exchanges between Italian and German universities - he added - as well as between Udine and our universities. The companies based in this region - continued the ambassador who also met with the local Confindustria - have a strong relationship with the German industry. We share many projects - he underlined - we must simply try to make investment easier in all sectors, because we have opportunities in logistics, and I am thinking of the port of Trieste, as well as in the field of mobility and transport." The strong ties between the two countries and between Germany and Friuli Venezia Giulia in the field of culture, tourism, and logistics have been emphasized by the regional councilor Zilli. "This region has always had a vocation to look to northern Europe - she said - and our challenge today is to develop new important relationships and exchange programs." "Higher education and universities - the university's rector Pinton said - are often not taken into account in international agreements, whereas the ambassador agreed that through student mobility and common academic qualifications and shared goals, there are the best conditions to create a solid union and collaboration at a European level." The mayor of Udine, Pietro Fontanini, very satisfied with this visit, underlined that "it is the first time that the German ambassador has come to Udine, a city where every day a tourist bus arrives from Germany." The mayor then remarked that Udine has an enduring twinning with the German city of Esslingen, "with exchanges between the students of the two towns - he explained - and we are glad that ambassador Elbling is a convinced supporter of all these twinnings."(ANSA).