Gianni Vernetti

Gianni Vernetti (born November 27, 1960) is an Italian politician.

Gianni Vernetti was born in Torino, Italy. In 1985 he obtained a degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Torino. In 1987 he was awarded a PhD in Urban Ecology from the Politecnico di Milano university.

Between 1993 and 1999 Vernetti was Deputy Mayor at the City of Torino, in charge of Public Works, Environment and Sustainable Development, and Urban Renovation.

In 2001 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the Italian Parliament. As leader of his Group in the Commission on Energy and Industry he promoted several initiatives on Renewable Energies. He is member of the National Steering Committee of his party Democrazia è Libertà-la Margherita, a center-left political party member of the European Democratic Party (EDP) and of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Group (ALDE) in the European Parliament.

In 2006 he was elected to the Senate of the Republic, and after the center-left coalition won the general election he became UnderSecretary of State for Foreign Affairs in the Prodi government. He was in charge of all bilateral relations between Italy and the Asia/Pacific countries. Vernetti coordinated all the Italian initiatives in Afghanistan, where Italy takes part in the NATO military mission and is coordinating the Justice Sector and Rule of Law Reform.

He promoted the new Italian policies towards Central Asia implementing several development aid projects, and improving economic, commercial and military cooperation. Vernetti coordinated the Italian aid to the countries affected by the 2004 tsunami. He coordinated the Italian initiatives in Asia promoting several projects of economic, scientific, commercial and military cooperation, particularly between Italy and India, China, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Pakistan.

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