DAMASCUS, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Syria is restudying "with care" the Syrian-European Partnership Agreement and its effects on Syrian economy, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Abdullah al-Dardari said on Saturday, the official SANA news agency reported.

    Dardari made the remarks at a joint press conference with visiting Italian Minister of Economic Development Claudio Scajola.

    Syria and Italy signed on Saturday a number of memos of understanding (MOU) to boost bilateral cooperation on trade, agriculture and transport, which includes establishing an Italian Technological Center in Damascus, SANA said.

    As the top trade partner of Syria in Europe, the trade volume between Italy and Syria in 2008 amounted to 20 percent of Syria's total trade with the European Union.

    Scajola affirmed his country's desire to increase investments in Syria in various fields such as technology and tourism and expand cooperation in technical training, in addition to cooperation in exporting agricultural products, according to the report.

    The Italian minister also stressed the importance of signing the Syrian-European Partnership Agreement, though, he said Syria "has the right to think it over."

    Damascus and the EU first drew up the draft partnership pact in2004 but it was never signed by European countries due to concerns of some nations of human rights condition in Syria.

    On October 8, the EU said it was ready to sign the Syrian- European Partnership Agreement on October 26 in Luxembourg, which would pave the way for Syria's full participation in the European Neighborhood Policy.

    However, Damascus has officially asked to postpone the signing to an unspecified date, saying it needed taking more time to consider the agreement and assess its impact on the Syrian economy.