Italy’s firm commitment to support the democratic transition in Yemen was reiterated today by Deputy Minister Lapo Pistelli during a meeting at the Farnesina with the Minister for Planning and International Cooperation, Mohammed al-Saadi, who is visiting Italy.
The numerous bilateral issues discussed during the one-hour meeting ranged from economic-commercial relations to development and cultural cooperation initiatives, as testimony to Italy’s long-standing leading role in Yemen.
The Yemeni minister illustrated the Sanaa government’s successful efforts to overcome the obstacles and difficulties standing in the way of the National Dialogue Conference, which came to a positive conclusion on 25 January 2014.
“We appreciate Yemen’s efforts and are ready to resume all the cooperation projects as soon as the necessary minimum conditions to operate have been re-established”, said Deputy Minister Pistelli. He pointed out Italy’s determined efforts to support the stabilisation of this country bordering the Gulf of Aden and the priority status given to maritime security (VTS programme) and to the humanitarian and culture sectors.