Flying high

However, Italy and the UAE have a lot more potential to be tapped.

Italy enjoys excellent relations with the UAE, and mutual efforts to further enhance these ties continue. "The fact that Italy and the UAE are very good friends is not extraordinary, since the UAE maintains good relations with all countries. And as Italy considers the UAE an important country, strengthening ties to form an even deeper bond is our priority," says Paolo Dionisi, Italy's Ambassador.

Dionisi, who recently took over as the ambassador here, believes in projecting Italy in the UAE. To begin with, he has refurbished his office to give it an Italian touch. The Ambassador has rented lampshades, paintings and artifacts from Italian museums. He is determined to portray Italy as it is - a modern, state-of-the-art nation wrapped in rich culture and history.

Promoting relations

Dionisi is in awe of the UAE's fast-paced development. "The credit for the UAE's development in such a short period goes to the country's leaders and their vision. Italy would definitely like to learn, understand and emulate the UAE's model of success. As an ambassador, I believe I should promote the modern UAE to the Italian people as well as promote the real Italy in the UAE. Italy is venturing into cultural ties with the UAE. It is important for both countries to strengthen bilateral partnership," he says.

Though Italy is the sixth largest European trading partner for the UAE, Dionisi feels the nation is capable of much more. "The UAE is an important market for Italy. Trade relations have been encouraging in the last few years. While trade figures for luxury and fashion accessories as well as automobile items are quite satisfactory, those of general items could have been better," he says.

Italian exports to the UAE in 2005 totalled 2.5 billion euros (about Dh11.7 billion), an increase of 20.6 per cent compared to 2004, while Italian exports to the UAE during the first half of this year were 1.5 billion euros (about Dh7 billion), which is a 35.7 per cent increase over the first half of 2005.

Dionisi emphasises the embassy's mission to promote vigorous bilateral trade. Currently, more than 80 Italian companies in various fields including oil and gas technology and exploitation, civil engineering, consulting and contracting, energy engineering, banking, airline and shipping lines, trading, steel production and refrigeration, operate in the UAE. There are about 1,500 Italians residing here.

Building rapport

"One of our efforts is to encourage more Italian companies to visit and participate in UAE exhibitions, as the UAE market calls for quality. Also it's vital for Italian businesspeople to build a rapport with their UAE counterparts to ensure robust business activities," says Dionisi.

He believes Italy can share with the UAE its expertise in various fields. "Italy is a pioneer in fields such as engineering, aeronautical and space, among others. For instance, Italy's Galileo - Europe's answer to Global Positioning System and navigation systems - can be introduced here. Similarly, Italy is the centre for thalassemia treatment in Europe with a wealth of research done on the subject."

However, the ambassador does not wish to promote health tourism. He only hopes to bring in Italian expertise and knowledge to offer high quality health services to the UAE people.

"Italians are also good in sports such as football and skiing. We have the best skiing experts and technology in the world, and we would love to see Italian involvement in the to-be-built Abu Dhabi skiing resort," he says, adding that the upcoming international airports in the country also provide good opportunity for Italian companies.

The embassy places great importance on encouraging the exchange of official and business trade delegations. The political visit of Vittorio Craxi, Undersecretary in the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to Abu Dhabi last September, was seen as a positive step in the direction of consolidating bilateral ties. The ambassador hopes more official visits from the UAE to Italy will also take place.

Arabic ties

"The new Italian government policy focuses on playing an important role in this region and intensifying relations with Arab countries. This is not only due to the geographical proximity but also closer culture ties. For instance, Italian language derives many words from Arabic, and much of our culture stems from the Arabic nations. We are so much alike in many ways," he says.

Tourism is a vital mode to bridge any difference, according to the ambassador, who says, "However, there's little activity in this direction.

According to Unesco, about 70 per cent of the world's heritage sites are in Italy. But in spite of all the tourist charm and attraction, only 8,000 visas were issued by the Italian embassy last year. This is due to the lack of tourism promotion coupled with a lack of knowledge about Italy among the UAE people.

"We are requesting the Italian government to endorse more tourist programmes and road shows in the UAE. In addition, we are proposing to extend embassy services in Dubai to simplify visa procedures, apart from facilitating travel agencies to process visas simultaneously as ticketing is being done. I'm positive that more such steps will increase air traffic between the countries," he says, and adds that in July, the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority signed an agreement with a museum in Venice. This venture will be the first of its kind in the world.

Educational venture

Italy is also yet to make a mark in the field of education here, according to the ambassador. "Currently, there aren't many Italian educational courses available here, nor many UAE students in Italy. However, we hope to introduce Italian courses in the UAE universities shortly, considering the fact that Italy is a leader in technology, art, sculpture, artifacts and music in Europe. We need to communicate the role of Italy in the UAE in a way that it deserves. We should be seeing and be seen in a different way," Dionisi says.