Outgoing Italian honorary consul Claudio Izzi calls on President Faure |29 November 2019
President Faure welcomes Mr Izzi to State House
President Danny Faure received outgoing Italian consul to Seychelles Claudio Izzi at the State House yesterday morning for a brief meet in which they discussed his guest’s contributions towards the Republic of Seychelles as well as the future of the bilateral relationship between Seychelles and Italy.
Mr Izzi has, after 15 years, decided to end his tenure but is to remain in Seychelles, his home for the past 30 years, where he will eventually implement a project to develop entrepreneurship skills among the youth.
“The visit was most importantly to mark my 15th anniversary as the honorary consul of Seychelles. Within these 15 years, I’ve seen many exciting things, many changes in the country. I received visits of many Italian navy ships for example. I’ve seen the accreditation of five Italian ambassadors, so there’s been a lot of international and diplomatic business that I’ve been looking at over the years, together of course with the assistance of Italians living here, welcoming Italians and professionals who have decided to move to Seychelles to offer their services, most of the time in partnership with Seychellois. That is something that us Italians are very proud of. Whenever we come to a country that is not our country, we like to integrate with the local community,” said Mr Izzi.
“The president of course was very happy with my visit and he clearly told me that he has admired what I have been doing here, first of all as an entrepreneur,” he said.
Mr Izzi moved to Seychelles in 1990 where he founded the iconic jewellery and craft company Kreolor, starting off initially with six Seychellois employees, before selling the company recently with 40 Seychellois employees.
“Kreolor is something that I have done with a lot of pride. It is a company that is very well known in Seychelles and is definitely successful. The best memory I would say is what I have done professionally. I am really proud of all the Seychellois who worked with me,” he said.
“If I have to pick something in particular as the highlight of my life here, is what I have done with the Seychellois men and women in my business and with that I am very proud of the fact that everywhere I go I see Kreolor jewellery being worn by many, many Seychellois,” Mr Izzi added.
Having been a successful businessman himself, Mr Izzi vows to give back to the community by teaching young people how to master entrepreneurship and business and to develop the necessary skills to complement their will to succeed.
Laura Pillay