Page 3 - Quarterly N°1 2017 Eng

SOUTH AFRICAN EMBASSY IN ROME: NEWSLETTER

Note from the Ambassador

It is such a pleasure to welcome you to our first newsletter for

the year 2017. It has only been a few months since the begin-

ning of the year, but so much has already been achieved. This

Ambassador is the crucial period when the Government finalizes its strategic
Ms. Nomatemba Tambo planning for the period April 2017 to March next year. This pro-

cess started with the South African President’s State of the Nation

Address which outlined Government’s priorities for the year ahead, as well as the speech by the

Minister of Finance which summarised the allocation of the national budget for achieving our pri-

orities.

This quarter, as we welcomed our acting Corporate Service Manager, Mr Henko Labuschagne,
we are poised to achieve even more from our Embassy resources. The Embassy has exciting
activities and engagements planned for this year, which are aimed at strengthening the bilateral
relationship between South Africa and Italy. These include the promotion of trade and invest-
ment ties, the promotion of South African wines and cuisine, as well as hosting high-level con-
ferences and discussions on wide-ranging and important issues, including the plight of children
in protracted crisis, global peace and bilateral cooperation in the management of ports and har-
bours.

The Embassy has already hosted several high-level South African delegations from various
spheres of government, with the aim of identifying how we can build on existing partnerships
and cooperate with Italian counterparts, for mutual benefit.

In this edition, we have introduced an article written by a staff member at the Embassy on his
experiences, observations and hopes.

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