A record of participation, over six hundred companies have registered: this is the outcome of the webinar dedicated to the United Arab Emirates of “Mercati in Diretta”, the ninth appointment of the cycle of meetings organised by the Foreign Ministry and the ICE Agency to deepen the prospects for relaunching the presence of Italian companies in the main markets, in the aftermath of the health emergency, and the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The webinar was introduced by Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Manlio Di Stefano, who described the measures launched by the government to support the internationalisation of Italian companies affected by the effects of Coronavirus. The President of the ICE Agency, Carlo Ferro, then pointed out the trend of bilateral trade between Italy and the United Arab Emirates and illustrated the Agency’s programming with reference to the Emirates market.
The Italian Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Nicola Lener, described the impact of Covid-19 on the economy of Abu Dhabi, the foreseeable trend lines to recover from the crisis and their implications for Italian companies. “Innovation – the Ambassador explained – is the key to access the Emirates market. And this also in the perspective of Expo 2020 Dubai, which following the postponement to 2021, seems destined to represent a platform of extraordinary value to relaunch the Italian economic system on the global scenario”.
Then, the Director of ICE Dubai Office, Amedeo Scarpa, presented the results of a survey on the effects of the crisis carried out among about one hundred importers of Italian products on the local market, while the Director of SACE for the Middle East, Maurizio d’Andria, illustrated the guarantees offered to companies by SACE-Simest, including the new “Garanzia Italia” Fund.
The webinar, which included a Q&A session and a speech by the Director General of ICE, Roberto Luongo, was an important opportunity not only to provide companies with an update on current trends in a priority market like the Emirates, but also to highlight the role that all the Institutions of the Country System in the Emirates play in a coordinated manner to strengthen the Italian presence in the Gulf Country.
