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| Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin |
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THE GUIDE How long have you been in Brazil?
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin First of all, I would like to thank THE GUIDE for the opportunity of expressing myself and telling a little about my country on the 45th Anniversary of the Independence of Côte D’Ivoire. Answering to your question, I have just completed four years in Brazil and I will probably be here for two years more
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THE GUIDE Is your family accompanying you here in Brazil?
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin No, unfortunately my husband is back in Côte D’Ivoire. We have two children, a boy who is studying in the United States and a girl in Canada. But find a way to visit each other when I am on vacation. I have been to North America to visit the children, we met back home, they were all here for the holidays… I do miss them a lot, but we manage to stay close at all times.
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THE GUIDE What do you think of Brasília?
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin I like it very much. In fact, the city of Brasília has a whole special meaning to me and to our country. That is because our capital, Yamoussoukro, was inspired in Brasília, for the inventiveness and efficiency right from the conception. Actually, there were several delegations from Côte D’Ivoire to Brasília over the years to discuss the projects, meet Oscar Niemyer and Lúcio Costa (designers of the project of the city) and from the artificial lake, the buildings, the organization to the wide roads, Yamoussoukro has learned a lot with Brazilian authorities and the designers and is very thankful to Brasília. On the last visit, for example, the Governor of Yamoussoukro came meet Governor Joaquim Roriz with the intent of studying the apartment buildings and control the immigration of people from other states. It all has been a great interaction between Brazilian government and ours.
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THE GUIDE Have you been to many places in Brazil?
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin Oh, well, a few... I haven’t been to all states, that is for sure, but I have visited São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Bahia, Pernambuco, Ceará, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul, Goiás, Espírito Santo… It is part of our life to search for investment opportunities and encourage a cultural exchange between our countries.
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THE GUIDE Is there much similarity between the people from Brazil and the people from Côte D’Ivoire?
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin Yes, I see a few, and very positive too. I believe we have the same pleasure to live, the same energy and warmth when treating each other. Brazilian people are really warmth, maybe even more than us.
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THE GUIDE How are the bilateral relations between Brazil and Côte D’Ivoire?
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin Well, I guess that the relations between our two countries have gone through some different stages. We feel some nostalgia of these relations some 30 years ago when the Embassy of Côte D’Ivoire was inaugurated in Brasília and there was much more trade and exchange. We had two major Brazilian banks in Côte D’Ivoire, Bank of Brazil and “Banco Real”, direct flights from Rio de Janeiro to Côte D’Ivoire, many companies interacting both ways. Unfortunately these relations diminished in the 90’s when the currency of the two nations reached different values and trading with other countries became more interesting. At some point, to mention an example, the Public Transportation company in Côte D’Ivoire gave purchasing their buses from Brazil and chose to do so from German. And since 2002 the country has been through a very difficult crisis, but right now we are at a good phase as new elections are coming and there is hope for changes. And in the last four years our trade and technological, cultural and political exchange are increasing a lot, so there are good things to come.
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THE GUIDE How is the National Day celebrated in Côte D’Ivoire?
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin It is commemorated from the sixth of August on, when there is the final match of the Soccer National Championship. Then, many popular festivals and commemorations followed throughout the next days, such as student’s parades, fairs where the local producers display their handicraft and ceremonies.
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THE GUIDE It is not necessary to say that the popular sport in Côte D’Ivoire is soccer…
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin We are great fans of it. It is really the national sport, no doubt about it.
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THE GUIDE Mrs. Ambassador, would you like to take the opportunity to say something to the visitor’s of THE GUIDE?
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Ambassador Colette Gallilé Lambin I would like to thank THE GUIDE for the chance to speak about my country and that is something that we Ambassadors have to do, to make our countries more popular in our missions. I hope that those who come across these information feel more interested to know Côte D’Ivoire. Part of my goals is to bring Brazil and Côte D’Ivoire closer divulging my country and assisting the cultural interchange between the two countries. In fact, we feel that Brazilian culture has been strongly influenced by Africa and that is very nice. You can see that in music, arts, in sports, dancing and also in the Brazilian cuisine, in which are used the same basic ingredients, such as mangoes, coconut, cocoa, coffee, cotton, pineapple and others. I hope that in the end of my stay, that is even stronger than today.
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