VP Sam-Sumana Brings the Rebranding of Sierra Leone Message to Italy
Vice President Alhaji Samuel Sam-Sumana on Monday March 8 ended a week-long visit to Italy to further strengthen bilateral relations in the areas of energy, water, health, trade and investment. This is in line with the sworn commitment of the government to improve the lives of people in a country which until recently was considered one of the worst places to live in due to among other things, its erratic or non existent electricity supply; its high rate of maternal and infant mortality; poor water supply, food insecurity and dilapidated infrastructure as result of the brutal civil war and neglect.
The message of the delegation was simple: Sierra Leone has investment possibilities in many sectors and is ready to facilitate the process. Rebranding Sierra Leone also calls for a change of perception by Sierra Leoneans towards their country and they should be active players in the process.
The first stop of the VP was in Turin in northern Italy on Tuesday March 2, where the delegation met with among others, the head of International Relations and Cooperation of the Piedmont Region and later with the president of Hydroaid Group and the Director of the Regional Centre for International Business Promotion of the Chamber of Commerce of Turin. The VP and his delegation also made a stop at the International Labour Organisation’s Training Centre in Turin on the same day to look for ways to help in the capacity building of Sierra Leoneans.
In Lombardy, Chief Sam Sumana held talks with the Governor of that northern Italian region Hon. Roberto Formigoni followed by a meeting with industrialists and entrepreneurs in the Milan area.
The cities of Florence and Perugia played host to the Vice President’s delegation on Thursday March 4. As was the case in the Piedmont and Lombardy regions, he was able to meet with civil authorities, business people and prospective investors.
The last stop of the Vice President and his delegation was Rome where he met with the head of the Africa section of the Confederation of Italian Industrialists Cofindustria and with the Personal Representative for Africa of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday.
The following day March 6, Chief Sam-Sumana and the members of his delegation were presented with some projects that have already been submitted or are in the process of being submitted to authorities in Sierra Leone for consideration in the areas of infrastructure, energy, water, an ultramodern hospital and affordable housing.
The VP also had the chance to explain the policies of President Ernest Bai Koroma’s government in the various sectors such as health, energy, agriculture, education and tourism during meetings with Sierra Leoneans in Milan and Rome calling on them to join in the rebranding process of the country.
The delegation also took time off to visit the Vatican, a farmers’ organisation and the beautiful city of Grosseto on Italy’s Tyrrhenian Sea.
The Vice President was accompanied on the just ended trip by the Deputy Minister of Finance Hon. Richard Conteh, Deputy Minister of Agriculture Forestry and Food Security Hon. Alie Badara Mansaray, Ambassador-Designate of the Republic of Sierra Leone to Italy (Ambassador in Germany) H.E. Jongopie Siaka Stevens and the Director of Investment at the Sierra Leone Investment and Export Promotion Agency SLIEPA, Mr. Raymond Gbekie.
This is Chief Sam-Sumana’s second visit to Italy in less than a year. It should be recalled that he was among a group of African and world leaders who took part in last August’s annual meeting for friendship among peoples organised by the Communion and Liberation Movement in the Italian coastal resort city of Rimini.
The meetings for the VP’s latest visit to Italy were organised by the Italian Foreign Ministry in collaboration with Sierra Leone’s Consul in Milan Alessandro Rosso, the Consul in Rome Fausto Maria Puccini and Italian Trade Enterprises, a company established in Sierra Leone in 2008 to promote Italian investment.
Festus Tarawalie is the assistant to the Consul in Rome for the country’s representation at the three UN offices in Rome (FAO/IFAD/WFP).Stay with Sierra Express Media, for your trusted place in news!
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