Ambassador of Italy to Nepal Vincenzo de Luca who is completing his four years tenure in June visited Kathmandu last week and held meetings with government authorities and civil society members. Ram Kumar Kamat of The Himalayan Times, talked to the Italian Ambassador about the progress achieved in the Nepal-Italy relations. He says some major progresses were achieved in last four years which will help further enhance bilateral relations in the coming years. Excerpts:

What is the present status of relations between our two countries?

I am really happy about the progress made in our bilateral relations in recent years, particularly in last four years. We have announced partnership between Italy and Nepal. In the political field, we have signed an agreement for regular political consultation between the foreign ministries of our two countries. In the economic field, for the first time, we have created Nepal-Italy Chamber of Commerce and Industries and that is very actively working to promote bilateral ties. It aims to promote more trade and investment between our two countries. In the cultural field, we have increased our exchanges between the two countries to promote conservation of our cultural heritages. In the month of March, a training was organised for Nepali experts in Italy. We have also organised several events with our Honorary Consul Pratima Pandey on natural beauties, music, concerts and other events.

We have regular exchanges of views with Nepali authorities in Geneva and New York at UN platforms on major issues such as climate change, sustainable development, human rights and other issues. For us, Nepal is an important partner to have more inclusive, stable and peaceful world. I am happy that I could achieve concrete progress in our bilateral relations in last four years.

What are the areas where Italian investors would want to invest in Nepal?

As far as bilateral trade and investments are concerned, during COVID-19 pandemic, trade between our two countries dropped to 18 million euros. Now between 2022 and 2023, we have bilateral trade of around 30 million euros but we have potential for more trade and investment between our two countries. There are potentials for the import of textiles and more machinery from Italy for technological upgrade of agriculture, textiles and other things in Nepal. We also have presence here in Nepal of infrastructure and consulting companies for the building of new sustainable infrastructure in water, dam and many sectors. This is important to share technology between Italy and Nepal. We have increased the number of visas for Nepalis. In 2022, the number of visas was 1300 and in 2023, this number reached 2000. It was a significant increase because for us, mobility, people to people contacts are very important. We want to increase visa for business people as well as students. After COVID 19, pandemic, there has been a significant increase in the number of Italian tourists in Nepal. Last year, more than 50,000 Italian tourists visited Nepal and I think this number will significantly increase in the coming years so I think there are very favourable environment for doing more to enhance Italy-Nepal relations as well as EU-Nepal relations. We are also contributor to all EU projects in Nepal. During COVID-19 pandemic, Italy was among the major partners that provided vaccines to Nepal and in the aftermath of Gorkha earthquake, Italy supported protection of Nepal's cultural heritage so we are always ready to give solidarity of support to Nepal and enhance our bilateral ties further.

How can Nepal and Italy cooperate on climate change issues?

We have already developed contacts between our countries at the level of multilateral fora to have similar positions on climate issues. Climate change is a most important global issues and we have allocated more than four billion euros for tackling climate change in developing countries, especially in Africa and we are ready to further exchange our experience with Nepal for the actions that are important in terms of climate change issues. At international organisations, we also support joint and concerted efforts to deal with extreme weather events because such extreme events affect poor people and vulnerable territories. In Italy also we have suffered the consequences of extreme events.

Last year you had said that Nepalis could also work in Italy's agriculture and other sectors. Has there been any discussion with Nepali authorities so far?

Not on this occasion but we had discussed the issue on previous occasion. Now we have to find way and means to have more legal migrants from Nepal to Italy because our government has announced substantial increase in the number of migrants from many countries. But we want to promote only legal channels for migration. Our government is committed to fight against illegal migration. We want migrant workers to work in our agriculture and manufacturing sectors, restaurants, hotels and hospitality industry. We are thankful to the Government of Nepal for helping Italian and European tourists stranded in Nepal during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic to go to their home countries. There was a very successful EU coordination in Nepal at that time. EU supported Nepal during COVID-19 pandemic making vaccines available for Nepalis.

We also provided machinery for the production of oxygen in Nepal.

What significance your country attached its relations with Nepal which is thousands of miles away from Europe?

Italy's relations with Nepal are very important because we share a longstanding civililisations and this is the most important link that we have between our two countries. When we share civilization and profound cultural values and also vision in terms of global order through multilateralism, these are important pillars for us that guide us to do more. These are fundamental elements of our bilateral relations. With Nepal we share thousands of years of history and heritage. I visited an exhibition at Nepal Art Council. I visited cities around Kathmandu. I always try to have an opportunity to observe Nepal's culture. Nepal's unique culture is also one reason why more Italian tourists want to visit Nepal. Almost 80 to 90 per cent Italian tourists come here to see not only natural beauty but also cultural heritages. They visit temples, monasteries, palaces and squares. Kathmandu is a very dynamic city where young people are seen working in various fields.