State Minister meets the Honourary Consul of the Maldives in Italy

Aslam Shakir, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs met Dr. Luca Fiormente, the Honourary Consul of the Republic of Maldives in Italy at a meeting held at the Ministry yesterday.

During the meeting Dr. Fiormente shared details of his work, informing the State Minister the progress of the bone marrow transplant project being carried out under an MoU signed between the Government of Maldives and Region Abruzzo of Italy.

According to Dr. Fiormente, 10 beta-thalessemia Maldivian children are to undergo treatment annually for a period of three years and that there were two children currently undergoing treatment and recovery in Italy. He also said that the he was exploring the possibility of similar arrangements with other Italian regions. 

Thanking Dr. Fiormente for his initiatives, State Minister Aslam noted that Honourary Consuls representing the Maldives abroad were playing an important role for the development of the country.

Discussions were held on the Quality Certification for Maldivian fish products to the EU market and Dr. Fiormente noted that would continue to explore areas beneficial to the Maldives.

The meeting was also attended by Ahmed Rasheed, the Chief of Protocol and Dr. Hussain Niyaz, Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Fiormente also met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ahmed Naseem and other senior Government officials during his visit. He will be leaving after completing his visit on 10^th June 2011.