Italy-UAE bilateral relations set to make a leap forward
Expo 2020 will help Italy build on its deep and wide relations with the UAE in all fields
As the first global event after the outbreak of the pandemic, Expo 2020 Dubai is expected to be a platform of extraordinary value to reflect on the role of cooperation as a key factor to enhance the resilience of our societies and our capability of addressing global challenges, through innovation and connectivity.
The Universal Exhibition will also confirm the strong role of the UAE as a commercial, financial and logistics hub for the wider MENASA (Middle East, North Africa and South Asia) Region and the success of its development model based on diversification, attractiveness and projection towards the future, in a year that will mark the Golden Jubilee of the Federation.
For Italy, the participation in Expo 2020 Dubai will be the main promotional project in the last six years, not only for the entity of the investment made by the government to build and run an amazing Pavilion (in keeping with its role as “incumbent” after the success of the Expo Milan in 2015), but also for the deep commitment from all the main public and private entities to bring to Dubai the best of the Italian capabilities to create, innovate and network in order to contribute to enhance the recovery and resilience of our societies.
“Beauty connects people” is the Italian theme statement at Expo 2020 Dubai. Beauty, though, as a classical concept, encompassing not only what is aesthetically pleasing, but also what is right and useful to mankind, which today means also inclusive and sustainable. This is the beauty that permeates the unique Italian landscapes and architecture, but also the Italian manufacture and innovation in the most advanced sectors (from renewable to waste management, water treatment, aerospace, sustainable mobility, life sciences, artificial intelligence and agritech). By showcasing the beauty of Italian technology, indeed, the Italian Pavilion will highlight the contribution that Italy is providing to the global effort to improve the life of our people, to protect our planet and to increase our prosperity in an inclusive and sustainable way, in keeping with Italy’s priorities as current presidency of the G20.
In doing so, Italy will also build on its deep and wide relations with the UAE in all fields, from security to trade, from science to culture. Indeed, Italy and the UAE maintain a strategic dialogue on the main international and regional files at Foreign Ministers’ level; feature a dynamic trade exchange (in 2020 the UAE was the 1st market for Italian export in the MENA region, while Italy was the 2nd supplier of the UAE in the EU and among the first 10 globally); cooperate increasingly on research and technology (around 70 Italian scientists work today in the UAE Universities and research centres); and share a strong commitment to developing the cultural dialogue (as confirmed by the establishment in Abu Dhabi of the first Italian Cultural Institute in the GCC).
I am confident that Expo 2020 Dubai will provide a great opportunity to make a further leap forward in our bilateral relations, through the number of initiatives, projects, meetings, experiences that will involve our companies, our institutions, our research centres and our societies, and that will outlast the Universal Exhibition.
The Embassy, together with the Consulate General in Dubai, the Italian Trade Commission Office, SACE and the Italian Cultural Institute, and in close cooperation with the Office of the Italian Commissioner General for Expo, are keen to facilitate and support all these activities and their follow ups.