{"id":22241,"date":"2017-03-08T17:42:40","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:42:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/sala_stampa\/archivionotizie\/comunicati\/2017\/03\/intervento-dell-on-ministro-in-2\/"},"modified":"2017-03-08T17:42:40","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T16:42:40","slug":"intervento-dell-on-ministro-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/sala_stampa\/archivionotizie\/interventi\/2017\/03\/intervento-dell-on-ministro-in\/","title":{"rendered":"\u200bSpeech by the Minister at the Italy-Georgia Business Forum"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

(The authentic text is only the one actually delivered)<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A warm welcome to Prime Minister Kvirikashvili,\u00a0Vice Premier Kaladze,<\/i>\u00a0who is “on home ground” here in Italy (as a former A.C. Milan player), my\u00a0colleague Janelidze, the other ministers and institutional representatives, our ambassadors, and our many Italian and Georgian guests.<\/div>\n

We consider Italy to be a bridge across the Mediterranean between Europe and Africa. Georgia is also a\u00a0strategic bridge, but between Europe and Asia.\u00a0We are ancient countries, at the crossroads of history and geography. We share important values like pluralism, openness to dialogue and different cultures.<\/p>\n

This year we’re celebrating the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations. But I would point out that Italy was one of the first countries to recognise the First Georgian Republic between 1918 and 1921, by sending an ambassador to Tbilisi.<\/p>\n

We could look even further back.\u00a0I’m\u00a0not referring to the Romans, although they also left their mark in Georgia, but,\u00a0for example 1629.<\/p>\n

In 1629, the first book was printed in Georgian. It was an Italian-Georgian dictionary\u00a0compiled by Italian missionary\u00a0Stefano Paolini\u00a0with\u00a0 Georgian\u00a0Niceforo Irbachi.<\/p>\n

In 1643, \u00a0“Georgian grammar”\u00a0was published by another Italian missionary,\u00a0Francesco Maria Maggio.<\/p>\n

These are fundamental historical texts that literally “gave us the words” to express our friendship.<\/p>\n

Among the many stories of our friendship, I remember one that I find particularly moving as a Sicilian. Not many people know that,\u00a0after the civil war in 1991-1993, many displaced children from Abkhazia spent their summers in Palermo.<\/p>\n

For years they were\u00a0hosted by Sicilian\u00a0 families as a sign of solidarity.\u00a0This closeness helped them react to the tragedy of war, and to establish unbreakable bonds.<\/p>\n

Today there is a generation of “young people” who not only speak Italian but understand the Sicilian dialect and support Palermo’s football team!<\/p>\n

These same people set up an association headed by the Italian school in Tbilisi,\u00a0which will become bilingual next year.<\/p>\n

Over time, we have built very strong diplomatic relations, all the more necessary\u00a0 in the delicate stages of recent Georgian history, marked by difficult moments. Italy, it must be said, has always supported and will continue to support the territorial integrity of Georgia.<\/p>\n

And I am convinced that the\u00a0size of our economic relations, on which we are focusing today, is a cornerstone on which to\u00a0 continue building our relations together.<\/p>\n

Georgia demonstrates stability, pragmatism and reliability.\u00a0It is a democratic and dynamic country, driven by enthusiasm and lively forces. It has a long history, but a modern and competitive outlook.<\/p>\n

It has introduced ambitious reforms\u00a0and continues to do so. As a result of this, it now ranks internationally as one of the easiest places to do business, offering high levels of economic freedom, transparency and low taxation. Economically, it has also maintained an average rate of growth in\u00a0GDP of more than 3% in the past five years.<\/p>\n

For all these reasons, we have supported the\u00a0Association Agreement with the EU, which includes a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area with the European Union (2014).<\/p>\n

Another important step, which Italy has strongly supported, is the\u00a0liberalisation of visas, which became a reality on 27 February this year, recognising Georgian commitment as a powerful relationship multiplier.<\/p>\n

Today, the Business Forum provides an opportunity to take a further step forward in many sectors, thanks to the vital strength of more than 250 Italian and Georgian companies actively taking part in this initiative.<\/p>\n

I am thinking, for example, of the\u00a0tourism,\u00a0infrastructure\u00a0and\u00a0manufacturing sectors, on which Georgia is basing its growth. These are areas to which\u00a0Italian companies\u00a0can make the unique contributions of\u00a0know-how,\u00a0\u00a0innovation\u00a0and\u00a0quality.<\/p>\n

Italian excellence, which is well-known around the world, has the perfect characteristics to be successful in Georgia too.<\/p>\n

Italy, Europe’s second biggest manufacturing country, and one of the world’s leading economies, wants to be an increasingly important partner for Georgia as \u201ca channel of opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n

In Georgia – I tell Italian entrepreneurs today – we can invest and produce, export machinery, products and materials, take part\u00a0 in the many tenders launched by the country, strongly supported by financial and international institutions.<\/p>\n

And thanks to the many free trade agreements, Georgia is a platform for a\u00a0wider market, a crucial hub on the \u201cnew silk road\u201d.<\/p>\n

Many Italian companies, from\u00a0Ferrero\u00a0to\u00a0Salini-Impregilo, are already very familiar with the Georgian market and enthusiastic about it.\u00a0ANAS, Italferr, Saipem, Stoneware,\u00a0and a wide range of\u00a0SMEs\u00a0will be telling us about their very positive experiences today.<\/p>\n

This will encourage many other companies that have only just started to approach this market.\u00a0SACE,\u00a0SIMEST,\u00a0BERS\u00a0and the\u00a0Georgian agencies will be describing all the potential that exists in the market.<\/p>\n

I am convinced that the right conditions exist\u00a0 to advance\u00a0industrial cooperation\u00a0and give a strong impetus to\u00a0trade.<\/p>\n

Our architects have contributed in designing the face of Tbilisi, and\u00a0 will continue to do so.\u00a0Made in Italy, “Italian\u00a0 style” “Italian lifestyle”, Italian design and technologies are prized, particularly thanks to\u00a0 the strong commitment of\u00a0our embassy and the ICE.<\/p>\n

There is no lack of opportunities or ambitious projects:\u00a0including the construction of a technology institute\u00a0in collaboration with the Italian National Institute of Nuclear Physics.<\/p>\n

Continuing to look ahead:\u00a0today\u00a0two new\u00a0 Memorandums of Understanding\u00a0will be signed by SACE\u00a0and\u00a0Unioncamere\u00a0with their Georgian counterparts.<\/p>\n

The aim is to create an\u00a0environment that is more favourable to business\u00a0and collaboration between Italian and Georgian entrepreneurial communities. The aim is to grow together.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(The authentic text is only the one actually delivered) \u00a0 A warm welcome to Prime Minister Kvirikashvili,\u00a0Vice Premier Kaladze,\u00a0who is “on home ground” here in Italy (as a former A.C. Milan player), my\u00a0colleague Janelidze, the other ministers and institutional representatives, our ambassadors, and our many Italian and Georgian guests. We consider Italy to be a […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-22241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interventi","tag-ministri-precedenti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22241"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22241\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}