Italy has signed pacts on taxes and working holiday visas with Korea following after the European country’s prime minister visited here.

Korea’s First Vice Foreign Minister Ahn Ho-young and Italian Ambassador Sergio Mercuri signed the ROK-Italy Protocol of Amendment to the Agreement on the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Agreement on the Working Holiday Program at the Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and Korean President Lee Myung-bak had discussed the agreements at a meeting on the sidelines of the Seoul Nuclear Security summit on March 27.

The tax protocol is expected to take effect in the first half of this year, and will help the countries work more closely together to exchange tax information and prevent tax evasion. It is also expected to make trade and investment exchanges easier.

The ROK-Italy Working Holiday Program will permit young people from the two countries to travel and work in the other nation for up to one year. It will take effect in the second half of this year, allowing Korean nationals aged 18-30 to apply. Italy is the 13th country with which Korea has concluded such an agreement.