Giorgio Sfara presented his credentials yesterday as the new ambassador for Italy. Born in Reggio Calabria on 18 June 1943, he is a graduate of law from the Universita di Roma. He became a career diplomat in 1970 and has worked at Italian posts in Brussels, Pretoria, Damasco, Rome, Moscow, Geneva and Paris.
His most recent position was that of minister counsellor at the Embassy in France. This will be Sfara?s first ambassadorial appointment.
Diario Libre reports that the DR imported products worth 133.3 million euros from Italy during the first 11 months of the year. According to Roberto Funari of the Italian Embassy, these were primarily machinery and food products. The DR exported goods valuing 30.3 million euros during the same period, mainly farm products. Last year, 113,574 Italian tourists visited the DR, about the same number as in 2001.
Funari said that both governments are working on an agreement that would promote an increase in trade.
For more on Sfara, see http://www.mclink.it/com/inform/art/03n037a5.htm