Somalia: Ambassador Daccò Coppi Meets with the Minister of Commerce and Industry

Monday August 24, 2026

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The Italian Ambassador to Somalia, Pier Mario Daccò Coppi, met with the Minister of Trade and Industry, Gamal Mohamed Hassan, for an exchange of views and an update on the Somali government’s initiatives aimed at promoting local production, increasing added value, and supporting the development of exports.

During the meeting, the minister strongly expressed his hope that Italy would play an active role in supporting Somalia’s reform process—characterized by a gradual transition from a model based primarily on aid to one focused on investment, private-sector growth, and economic partnership.

From this perspective, Somalia presents itself as an emerging market with significant opportunities for development, particularly in the sectors of trade, logistics, and port infrastructure.

The country could, in fact, gain increasing importance as a regional logistics hub, thanks to its strategic location, provided that the reform process is accompanied by the introduction of innovations and infrastructure investments and that the regulatory framework at the national level continues to be strengthened and progressively aligned with international procedures.

The minister also highlighted the government’s commitment to building a national productive identity labeled “Made in Somalia” —along with formal recognition of widespread female entrepreneurship—aimed at increasing the added value of local production, strengthening quality standards, and facilitating access for Somali products to regional and international markets, including through greater integration into the EAC and EFTA markets, as well as the European market.  
  

Daccò Coppi, while acknowledging the progress Somalia has made in improving the business environment, agreed on the need to strengthen dialogue with the private sector and foster closer ties between Italian and Somali economic operators, thereby creating more favorable conditions for the development of concrete investment and collaboration opportunities. In this regard, the ambassador welcomed the minister’s emphasis on shifting the perspective on the Somali market, assuring the Embassy’s willingness to support this process and to promote—including with the support of ITA, the Agency for the Promotion Abroad and Internationalization of Italian Enterprises (ITA), a gradual convergence between the respective business communities, fostering greater awareness of the opportunities offered by both markets and the development of new forms of partnership.