VALLETTA, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Seven southern European Union (EU) member states signed a memorandum of understanding on Wednesday for closer collaboration on emerging technologies like blockchain, cryptocurrency and artificial intelligence.
Malta, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Cyprus, known as the South EU, committed themselves to exploring the possibility to cooperate on cross-border distributed ledger technologies projects and to share best practices in the application of distributed ledger technologies.
The agreement was reached during the South EU Telecommunications Ministers Summit hosted by Malta.
Through the memorandum of understanding, a framework was established for the sharing of best practices in the design and application of distributed ledger technologies at a governmental level between Southern European countries. An expert group will be set up to discuss the mentioned initiatives.
Addressing a news conference, Malta's Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation Silvio Schembri said that the signing of the memorandum of understanding consolidated further the cooperation between the seven states on the digital sector.
"This framework will help us as a region, to achieve the maximum potential of such technologies and enable us to enhance the daily lives of our citizens," said Schembri.
The Italian Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economic Development, Mirella Liuzzi, said that "emerging technologies, such as blockchain and, more generally, distributed ledger technologies, can be catalysts to promote the specificnesses of Southern Europe."
"The Southern Countries in the Mediterranean share similar characteristics and challenges, thus, helping each other is key to move forward and be able to lead and compete on an international level," said Greek Deputy Minister for Digital Governance Grigoris Zarifopolous.
