Mission of Undersecretary Amendola to Abu Dhabi continues

The Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs,  Vincenzo Amendola, continued his mission in Abu Dhabi. Assisted by the Director General for Cultural and Economic Promotion and Innovation, Vincenzo De Luca, and by the Italian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Liborio Stellino, Undersecretary Amendola chaired today the second working day of the area meeting of Italian Ambassadors accredited to the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC, which include the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait). The meeting’s agenda focused on the economic aspects, prospects and opportunities Italy has in the Gulf Countries. The meeting consisted of four panels. The first panel discussed the strategic positioning of Italy’s economic system in the Gulf Countries and the piorities for Italian investors and enterprises in each sector. The second panel focused on the defence industry, while the third one discussed financial tools and Islamic finance. The fourth and last panel focused on integrated promotion: attracting tourist flows, language and culture, science and technology. Representatives of the major stakeholders and institutions working and investing in the area participated in the discussions, such as the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Economic Development, ICE -the Italian Trade Agency, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, SACE, FSI sgr, Intesa Sanpaolo, Fincantieri, Elettronica, Banca d’Italia, Enit, Bulgari. Besides holding approximately one third of the world’s oil and gas supplies, the six Arab monarchies of the Gulf represent one of the fastest growing global markets. They offer major opportunities for the Italian economic system, which in the past few years has been able to establish strong partnerships. The value of Italy’s trade with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates is worth over 6 billion dollars for each of the two countries, while it is nearly 2 billion dollars with Qatar and Kuwait. Italy’s trade with Oman exceeds the 850 million euro mark and a growth rate of more than 30 %  is recorded in trade with Bahrain. Overall trade with the the six GCCs  has exceeded 20 billion dollars. To promote an ever stronger presence in the area, an institutional strategy should be developed to accompany Italian companies. There should be concrete road maps, bilateral meetings and joint economic commissions meetings. Furthering a constant dialogue with the top authorities of the  GCC Countries was one of the objectives of the two-day mission in Abu Dhabi, added the Undersecretary. Thanks to the attention paid to the Gulf Countries in these past few years,Italy will be able to capitalise its efforts by playing a major role also during the great events that will take place in the area in the years to come, starting from Dubai’s Expo in 2020 all the way to the World Football Cup Games that  Qatar will host in 2022. Todays’ meeting was also an opportunity to assess models and methods to approach the markets of the Gulf Cooperation Countries.