Rome, ANGOLA, August 23 - The Angolan ambassador to Italy, Maria de Fátima Jardim, delivered the copy of the credentials in Rome to Stefano Zanini, deputy director of the diplomatic ceremonial of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.,

The accreditation of Fátima Jardim, as Angola's tenth ambassador to Italy, will occur when she presents the Credentials to President Sergio Mattarella.

Ambassador Fatima Jardim thanked the Italian authorities for their reception and expressed the wish to strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries, extolling their historical ties.

With the presentation of the copy of the credentials, the last standard for accreditation as an ambassador, the diplomat, who arrived in Rome on Monday, may enter into contacts with her counterparts and with some institutions in the Italian territory.

Fatima Jardim was appointed on June 20, 2019 and, like her predecessor, will be Angola's ambassador to the Republics of Malta and San Marino, as well as permanent representative to the Rome-based United Nations Agencies (FAO, IFAD and WFP).

She has a degree in Biology, as new ambassador served as government minister for fisheries and the environment before heading the Fisheries Research Center.

Before debuting in diplomacy, Fatima Jardim was a member of the National Assembly.

Angola and Italy established diplomatic relations in June 1976, five months after recognition of the independence of the former Portuguese colony in 1975, and is currently Italy's third trading partner in sub-Saharan Africa.