Zubair Qureshi
Among the New Year celebrations the Diplomatic Enclave has indulged in these days (though very few envoys are there and majority has left for Christmas/New Year vacation) farewell parties for the outgoing Italian couple, Ambassador Andreas Ferrarese and Albana Planeja is one prominent feature.
This is because of the couple’s active participation in the diplomatic events during these three years and Mrs Albana’s role as President of the Islamabad Foreign Women Association (IFWA) is also a major factor.
So there is no end to invitations from friends and the poor couple is left wondering which one they should accept and which one they should politely turn down. But as the saying goes “Italians have their hearts in their sleeves, a fire in their soul and a mouth they cannot control” it is not easy for them to refuse a friend’s invitation, that too a parting one.
In the last couple of days, they attended farewell parties by two noted persons, the first a former bureaucrat Ijaz Durrani and the other an editor of a magazine, Mian Fazal Elahi.
A number of diplomats—mostly European nations’ envoys, Canada and the UK too—were among the guests and they had made it a point to come and formally say thank you to the wonderful couple that has always been in the forefront to organize many charity and cultural events introducing the Italian cuisine and culture, fashion and investment.
We wish you Excellency and Madam, endless successes and joys for the days to come and we thank you in return for what you have done during your tenure as Ambassador, said Ijaz Durrani in the farewell party he hosted for the outgoing couple.
It is pertinent to mention here that during the Italian ambassador’s tenure, trade between Pakistan and Italy touched new heights and it is for the first time that the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) formally opened its office to promote bilateral trade.
Acting Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, Mohamed Karmoune, Ambassador of Austria, Andrea Wicke, Czech Ambassador Ladislav Steinhübel, the Pakistan people’s Party (PPP) Senator Palwasha Khan, Defence Attaché of Italy and his wife, Barrister Ayesha and Kifayat Malik were also present on the occasion.
Ambassador Andreas while terming his stay in Pakistan a memorable period said he was taking along wonderful memories of friendship, discoveries and excitement. My wife and I will cherish these memories and will stay in touch with the friends we have made here in Pakistan, he said.
About the ‘remarkable’ bilateral trade (touching $2 billion in 2022) with Pakistan the ambassador highlighted that apart from $ 1 billion exports nearly $1 billion was in home remittances from the 300,000 Pakistanis living in Italy. This has made Italy’s Pakistani community the largest expatriate community within the European Union, he said.
“Italy remains among the top 10 exporting countries for Pakistan in the world, and the third major trade partner in the EU, “ he said. Both are in favor of the trade liberalization scheme at the World Trade Organization and contest the idea of unilateralism” he said. The couple along with their cute daughter is scheduled to leave the country sometime near the middle of January and the new ambassador who is a woman will also join around the same time.
