On the evening of 5 October 2011, the Embassy of Malaysia in Italy hosted a reception in conjunction with the 54th National Day of Malaysia and the 78th Malaysian Armed Forces Day. The event was held at The Sheraton Roma Hotel in Rome. The reception was held More than 200 people attended the reception including politicians, Italian government officials, diplomats, corporate and business people and media representatives. The Guest of Honour was The Honourable Senator Roberto Castelli, Deputy Minister of Infrastructures and Transport of Italy.
During the occasion, Ambassador Datin Paduka Halimah Abdullah delivered a welcoming speech in which she praised the friendly and substantive relations between Malaysia and Italy. She informed that the bilateral relations between Malaysia and the Italian Republic had shown an encouraging achievement namely in political, economic and defence spheres. Ambassador also highlighted Malaysia’s current development plan, namely, the Economic Transformation Programme which is expected to transform the country into a high-income nation by 2020 and defining the high-income threshold at a per capita income of about US$ 15,000 in 2020.
During the reception the guests were offered a wide spectrum of Malaysian foods which this year include succulent chicken satay from one of the Malaysian restaurants in Rome and fresh Malaysian fruits (watermelon, pineapple, king guava, dragon fruit and mango) especially flown in from Malaysia. Other Malaysian cuisines such as fried rice, curry puffs, kuih Cara and kuih Seri Muka were prepared by members of Perwakilan Rome. There was also a lucky draw. Prizes of two (2) return tickets Rome-Kuala Lumpur-Rome courtesy of Malaysia Airlines and four (4) cash vouchers redeemable for lunch/dinner at the two (2) Malaysian restaurants in Rome, Italy were up for grabs.
