The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Paolo Gentiloni, has appointed the new Directors of two of the most important Italian Cultural Institutes abroad: Beijing and Tokyo. The appointment was made pursuant to the procedure established to appoint the directors of Italian Cultural Institutes among professionals of “reputed competence”. The candidates are selected by a Commission that, in addition to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, also comprises, inter alia, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism and the Ministry of Education, University and Research.
The new directors are Franco Amadei at the Italian Cultural Institute in Beijing and Paolo Calvetti at the Cultural Institute in Tokyo.
Franco AMADEI (1963) graduated in Modern Chinese Language at the Beijing Language and Culture University, recognised to be the equivalent of an Italian degree in Modern Foreign Languages and Literature (with a major in Oriental Languages), and is currently the director of an economic and financial consulting company. He was former Chairman of FIAT (China) Business Co. Ltd and of Fiat-Chrysler APAC, consolidating an invaluable experience in institutional relations with China’s central government and local administrations. From 1998 to 2014 he sat on the Board of Directors of numerous companies of the FIAT Group in China.
Paolo CALVETTI (1959) graduated with summa cum laude in Oriental Languages and Civilizations (Far East Section) of the Istituto Orientale di Napoli and is Full Professor of Japanese Language and Linguistics and Director of the Department of Studies on Asia and on Mediterranean Africa at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Formerly full professor of Japanese Language and Literature at the Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale”, he acquired a long-standing experience in organising and coordinating international cultural events, also in cooperation with Japanese sponsors, while working as Expert (pursuant to Art. 168 of Presidential Decree 18/1967) at the Italian Embassy in Tokyo. He has released many publications on Japan and the Japanese Language and Culture. He has an excellent knowledge of both spoken and written Japanese.
