Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni has arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh as part of a regional tour, according to the official SPA news agency.
Gentiloni is scheduled to hold talks with Saudi King Salman Bin Abdulaziz today and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman during the visit.
Saudi Arabia is a major commerce partner to Italy with their trade exchange of around €7 billion ($8.15 billion) last year.
The Italian premier will visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar as part of his tour. He had earlier visited India.
Read: Italy welcomes amendments to Qatar anti-terrorism laws
The visit comes amid a Gulf crisis triggered in June when four Arab states – Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE and Bahrain – abruptly severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar.
The four states accuse Qatar of supporting terrorist groups – allegations Doha strenuously denies.