After replacing Ambassador Giuseppe Mistretta and on the hills of the Italian National day which falls today, Ambassador Arturo Luzzi reflects with The Reporter’s Samuel Getachew on his country, some of the highlights of the past year spent touring Ethiopia, on the dwindling local Italian community and on the areas he intends to focus on to strengthen the unbinding relationship between Italy and Ethiopia. Excerpts:

With the vision of ending micronutrient deficiencies and following a World Summit on Children, in Ottawa, Canada established the Micronutrient Initiative, since named Nutrition International in 1992.

Kevin Wheeler is an engineer and project manager with over 15 years of experience in the area of water resources planning and engineering, hydrologic and hydraulic systems modeling, water delivery system design and construction, and stakeholder education and capacity building.

Saad Ali Shire (PhD) was appointed as Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Somaliland in October 2015. Prior to his appointment he was the Minister of National Planning and Development for five years from 2012 to 2015.

Getachew Diriba (PhD) is an agricultural economist with years of accumulated field and research experiences.

Jelani Nelson is an Ethiopian - American (assistant) professor at Harvard University in Computer Science.

Marie Stopes has been in Ethiopia for eon. It has provided safe abortions and a slew of healthcare services for thousands of women in Ethiopia.

An expert in macro-economics and a vast experience in the Ethiopian financial sector, Eyob Tesfaye (PhD) is one of the pundits willing to express his views and suggest solutions for economic matters of the country.

Matthias Rompel is the head of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Ethiopia, the implementing agency for German development cooperation in the country.

Micheal G. Francom is an agricultural counselor and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) liaison to the African Union.