Italian Charge d’ Affaires, Mr. Gianluigi Vassallo to YT: “The debt rescheduling agreement is the first step towards utilizing the Yemeni debt in a way that is beneficial and fruitful to the Yemeni people.” [Archives:2002/36/Interview]

Mr. Gianluigi Vassallo, 28, is the current Charge d’ Affaires of the Italian Embassy in Sanaa. It has been almost one year since Mr. Vassallo took office in Sanaa. During this time, his basic duties were resembled in being in charge of all fields of activity of the embassy ranging from the political and economic sector to the development cooperation, and from the consular to the cultural affairs.
Since the last Italian Ambassador to Yemen Mr. Umberto LucchesiPalli left the country more than a month ago, Mr. Vassallo has been temporarily taking over all the ambassador’s duties, which resembles his brightness, hard work, and dedication for his country. His great efforts during this short time have indeed resulted in progress in Italian-Yemeni relations, especially in the field of economic and developmental cooperation.
Mr Mohammed Khidhr of Yemen Times staff met with Mr. Gianluigi Vassallo at the Italian Embassy in Sanaa, and in an enjoyable atmosphere, filed the following interview.
Q: Could you give us an account on the relationship between Italy and Yemen and its development?
A: Italy and Yemen have been friends for along time. In September 1926, Italy was the first country in the world to recognize the newly independent Yemen be signing a general friendship and commerce agreement. In 1927 the first Yemeni delegation ever to a European country visited Rome. In the following years the Italians had made themselves available to the Yemeni public in two ways. The first was to establish the first industrial plant in your country, a windmill in Mokha to assist in both official and non-official positions, that is both in official capacities as managers of hospitals and coordinators of the health system and as doctors we used to assist the population. The cooperation between Italy and Yemen has assumed many different faces during the decades of our friendship. It was of course political to begin with and it has stayed political in any way for we still regard your country as invaluable sources of good advice when it comes to the stability of the region and problems arising in the Horn Africa and the Arabian peninsula. We have always highly valued, and we continue to value very highly the advice of Yemen on such matters. In recent years, notably after the unification in 1990 and the civil war in 1994, the Italian presence focused on development cooperation, we’ve been active in the fields of education, health and the development of rural resources. Most recently, in 2000 notably, with the visiting HE the president of the republic of Rome officially talks were resumed at the highest possible level and have continued to be intense ever since. We have our voice minister of foreign affaires coming to Sana’a last November. We’ve now had the voice minister for industry with the voice minister to transport and two speakers of the house on different occasions, speaker Violante in 2000, and speaker Casini two years ago on a private visit.
Q: Would you tell us about the agreement on rescheduling Yemen’s debt to Italy and its amount, and where is the rescheduling program to be used in particular?
A: The bilateral rescheduling agreement between Italy and Yemen was signed within the framework of the multi-lateral agreement reached inside the Paris Club in 2001. The debt rescheduling agreement is the first step towards utilizing the Yemeni debt in a way that is beneficial and fruitful to the Yemeni people. The first step towards a situation of this kind is to reschedule the agreement that is to modify the expiry date of payment to be made by Yemen to return repay indeed commercial debts. The whole of the commercial debts, most of the commercial debts were included in this agreement whose amount of value is about $24 million, and which we signed on 14th of August last. Following important step, negotiations will start as soon as possible to convert the debt, which means that instead of returning this money to the Italian creditors, Yemen will give this for the object of utility to the Yemeni population. The type, size and scope of this project will be agreed between the governments in the course of the forthcoming negotiations. But we have to be have able to put money to good use in the interest of the people of Yemen.
Q: There is no amount of debts to be written off or supposed to be written off?
A: For the time being that is the only concrete step, that is the only thing that I can talk about as done, that is the rescheduling, and that is been done. The next likely step is the conversion of such debt.
Q: What are the main present aspects of cooperation in the economic and political fields?
A: At the political level we regard Yemen as an immensely valuable partner to assure the stability of the Horn of Africa and the whole region that Yemen is part of. At every occasion that we have for official contacts of the grasp that the government of Yemen has no current international political and economic issues. So we find all the contacts immensely beneficial. The next visit to Yemen by an Italian authority should be that the speaker of the House Ferdinando Cazini next year in a day that is still to be defined, but he was invited by Sheikh al-Ahmar and accepted the invitation with great pleasure. I already said with the voice minister for industry in Sana’a last year June, the voice minister was here on the occasion of the second Italian week, a commercial event that is organized every year since last year, in cooperation with the Italian Chamber of Commerce to promote Italian products in Yemen and help create commercial ties between our countries. This year’s Italian week was organized in cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce of Vicenza, one of our richest provinces that pave the way to create links between the Chambers of Commerce of Sana’a and the Chamber of Commerce of Vicenza and between many Italian and Yemeni firms in the field of jewelry and the working of the marble. We found great interest in the Yemeni public and firms and we hope that such links will evolve.
Q: What is the Italian embassy’s role and relations with popular organizations, NGOs, and political parties, and the press?
A: I’ve now been here for one year and all of my contacts with either the ruling party, opposition parties, Yemeni NGO’s engaged in whatever field, from political cooperation to development cooperation and economic development, let alone the press, both the English press and local Arab-language press, have been immensely fruitful.
As regards my contacts with political figures in the country, I always came a way with a lot of knowledge than I had at the very beginning, because debates are always frank, open constructive, reaching concrete results, and I was struck by the competence the political passion and the dedication to their country that all of the political figures that I met have shown. I found that greatly beneficial to my work as a diplomat and to my knowledge of the country. As regards NGOs, I’ve a more contact with development cooperation NGOs than with political NGOs. Anyway, I met a few in the course of debate in scientific foundations and the recent debate on the election law. And their contributions help me a lot develop personal position and an opinion on current political issues in the country. So would say that they have a great role. As regards development cooperation NGOs we have close relation with some of them, through we mainly work with Italian NGOs who come to Italy to implement projects in this country. And I may presently quote an example. A few days ago in the Taiz governorate with we inaugurated a development cooperation project to support the local economy, which is run by an Italian NGO (APS), and a Yemeni NGO, AASWA. We think that this kind of solution can be of great importance to the development of Yemen economy. And as regards the press, I really don’t think I can complain because whenever I gave an interview or made statement in front of the representatives of the press, it was always produced exactly in the same way as I’ve given it.
In Yemen my experience of one year as a diplomat shows that the attitude of the press towards our work has been cooperative, interested and correct and professional.
Q: What steps as an embassy you think you could take to cement the relations with Yemeni government and people?
A: In order to make a friendship always more durable and fruitful, you have to intensify contacts. If friends don’t mean to remain friends, but they grow out of sight and when you see each after along time, there is a lot of catching up to do. My hope is that should never be said about the Yemeni-Italian friendship. I hope to see links profounding between our two countries at various levels. At the political level, the highest political level, on the economic level through the expansion and strengthening trade links and through an implementation of a large number of Italian development cooperation projects in this country.
Q: One of the aspects strengthening relations between nations are cultural activities, have you made any cultural activities here or you plan to make here?
A: We have had an Italian archaeological mission here for twenty -two years. Its work started in 1980. And that mission by professor De Maigret had discovered the Yemen age of bronze, the temple of Makna in Baraqish and is now digging together with a French mission in Tamna, the ancient capital of Qataban. The third digging campaign should start this December. They have already carried out two in their process of starting a third campaign.
Q: What about Culture Weeks?
A: Culture Week will be a way a welcome piece of news in our cooperation. It is my hope that we can carry out such events in the future, although there are not yet in the picture but the expansion of cultural links, an even bigger cultural cooperation than we have nowadays is something that I would very much wish to see realized. A first step in this direction was the exhibition on the Queen of Sheba, whose first venue was Rome and which is now touring the world. We feel that these have contributed to make Yemen known worldwide. We are happy that it started in Rome and we are anxious about seeing more initiative in the cultural field between Italy and Yemen. To this, in this respect, we are working with the Yemeni authorities and with our friendship association, who is very active and deserves great praise.
Q: How would you establish good relations between your embassy and the press?
A: I visited your newspaper and some others and try to keep in touch with the press, when I have concrete facts to discuss on the whole. I believe that our relations with the press are entirely satisfactory. As regards the suspension of Italians aid towards Yemen those year, you had a difficult situation as well. In between 1990 and 1994 you have had a reunification and a civil war. Throughout that period, the Italian embassy in Sana’a stayed open, and that is a great proof of our friendship. We never closed, we never went away. Our ambassador at that time remained in the capital despite the bombs and the embassy continued functioning. That is concrete evidence of our friendship towards this country. We’ve just awards ten, and it is been like this in the past years. Since I’ve been here heard of a lot of scholarships awarded to Yemeni students who are coming to Italy to get post-graduate in medicine, to their great profit because they are very good students. And the same is also through our aid. We cannot boast, although, of our aid equal to that of some of our friends in the European Union. But we try and I’ve so far managed to do well out of our money, the few projects that we have implemented in this country, I feel a source of satisfaction to us because we believe them to be well done and useful. We hope that that volume will be increased in the coming years. But in the meantime we want to do well what we are doing. Thanks a lot that was a fine question.
Q: I think it was also meant by the question scholarships for journalists, and exchange of journalists visits?
A: We will work for that I’m interested in that too.
Q: I think it is also a good thing for journalists from Italy to get acquainted with the press here and vice-versa?
A: Actually we’ve registered a growing interest of Italian journalists towards your country. We’ve had a few here to write articles on the situations in Yemen and a few of them were good and satisfactory partial and full of fascination that your country inspires on the new comer, and not just a new comer, I’ve been here for one year and I’m still fascinated. Exchange programs, I decided within the framework of the cooperation in the cultural sector. And when it comes to this, the only thing that I can tell you that I’m working for that, there is nothing concrete yet. But I wish to see this happen in the future.
Q: Any further remarks you want to add?
A: I would once again wish to thank the Yemeni press for its attitude and its interest for the activities of my embassy. I always know that when I’m giving an interview and we are doing something here in Yemen, the press will give a correct and interesting report. And that is a very important result.

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