Italy's business union Confindustria Assafrica & Mediterraneo in cooperation with the foreign ministry and Institute for foreign trade Ice organized on Monday a Business Meeting Italy-Yemen which aimed to strengthen entrepreneurs and investors relations and partnerships in several industry sectors, such as energy, fishing, food and tourism.
Now that Yemen is looking to rebuilt its battered economy following a catastrophic couple of years, a partnership with one of Europe's biggest markets could prove an asset.
While economists remain cautious when trying to forecast Yemen's economic future, the country enjoys today a 4.4% growth rate, which growth could increase to 5.4% in 2014 and 6% in 2018 according to the International Monetary Fund previsions.
But if Yemen needs Italian investors to develop its industries, Italy also needs Yemen's promising investment opportunities.
Dotted with vast natural resources Yemen could prove the eldorado Italian wealthy investors need to boost their own out of breath national economy.
''For many years we didn't see Yemeni businessmen here'', said Pier Luigi d'Agata, director general of Assafrica, the Confindustria unit which supports Italian companies interested in investing in 70 countries in the Mediterranean, Africa and the Middle East. ''We are ready to wrap up an agreement with any Yemeni enterprise in order to give structure to our relationship''.
''National dialogue in Yemen is moving forward and we are optimistic on the future'', said Yemen's ambassador to Italy, Khalid Al Akwa, who downplayed allegations of instability . "Our wish is for Italians to also invest in the tourism sector', said the ambassador. In spite of kidnappings and attacks in the country's North and South there are entire areas where nothing happens," he said. ''We never heard about incidents in Socotra, for example. And it is on the development of islands (there are 120 off the Yemeni coast) that we want to invest to re-launch tourism'', said Al Akwa.
''Today we are looking at the Yemeni stabilization process as a model'', said Italy's Ambassador in Sanaa, Luciano Galli. Galli encouraged companies who left the country after the political crisis to ''return to Yemen before other competitors enter the market''. "Italian investments in Yemen will be protected by a ten-year-long bilateral agreement signed in 2008."