The mission of the President of Lazio, Nicola Zingaretti, at Expo Dubai 2020 is now in full swing. Yesterday morning, at the conference room of the Grand Hotel Millennium Business Bay in Dubai, started the series of regional events scheduled until March 9th at the Emirates Exhibition, to launch a bridge between Lazio and the Gulf countries, illustrating the growth and development strategies of the Region and providing partnership opportunities for the production activities of our territory and potential Arab investors.

The meeting “Lazio Region Business Hub – the Gateway to the Arab Market for Lazio Companies” involved representatives of the Italian System in the UAE, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the UAE, ITA Dubai, SACE Dubai | UAE and MENA Region, presenting the Country System of the seven Emirates that make up the UAE, providing macroeconomic data, trade trends and prospects for international collaboration between Italy and the Arab world.

In addition to President Nicola Zingaretti, participants included Quirino Briganti, Responsible for Lazio Region activities at “Expo 2020 Dubai”; H.E. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Faisal Al Qassimi, President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in UAE; Paolo Orneli, Regional Minister for Economic Development, Trade and Crafts, Research, Startup and Innovation of Lazio; Mauro Marzocchi, Secretary General of the Italian Industry & Commerce Office in the UAE; Beatrice Calabrese, Trade Analyst of the Italian Industry & Commerce Office in the UAE; Amedeo Scarpa, Italian Trade Commissioner to the UAE; Maurizio D’Andria, Head of UAE, Middle East and North Africa SACE; Angelo Camilli, President Un-Industria; Lorenzo Tagliavanti, President CCIAA of Rome; Nicola Tasco, President of Lazio Innova; Stefano Campagna, Vice President of the  Italian Industry & Commerce Office in the UAE – Managing Director, Sharaf Future Trading LLC; Piero Ricotti, Director of the Italian Industry & Commerce Office in the UAE – Managing Director, Tecnosistemi FZ LLC; Rekha Setpal, Head of Program and Partnerships In5.

During the meeting, which also saw the participation of a selected number of Italian and Emirati companies operating in the area, the activities underway at the “Lazio Region Business Hub” set up in Dubai by the Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the Lazio Region to provide business support to Lazio companies wishing to take advantage of the opportunities offered by Expo, and details of the first results of the activities accompanying the internationalization of the Lazio production system in Dubai, were illustrated.

The regional delegation continued its work in the afternoon with the “LAZIO DAY” at the Amphitheater of the Italy Pavilion, presenting “Lazio Eternal Wonders – A great Story of Travel, with an Eye to the Future”, an event dedicated to Tourism and the regional plan to relaunch a sector that has been particularly affected by the pandemic, but which represents one of the major strengths of the economy of the territory.

The President Nicola Zingaretti, together with the Regional Minister for Tourism, Local Authorities, Urban Security, Local Police and Simplification of Lazio, Valentina Corrado and Quirino Briganti represented the strategic centrality of the tourism sector of Lazio and its offer that, thanks to inimitable factors of attraction, makes the Region a destination that responds well to the demands of tourists from the Gulf. In particular, luxury tourism represents an attractive sector for many clusters, determining a significant economic growth and development of the country system. Other participants included Paolo Glisenti, Commissioner General for Italy’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai, Giuseppe Finocchiaro, Consul General of Italy in Dubai and NassryBedran, Director of Business Development Dubai Link Travel & Tours.

The video “Lazio Eterna Scoperta”, made by the Region especially for this event, tells about the beauty and the tourist, cultural and internationalization opportunities that Lazio offers to those who want to invest, establish business relationships and partnerships or stay in its 5 provinces. A journey that captures the attention on the still undiscovered wonders of a territory capable of giving experiences of beauty among capitals, ancient villages, rural and coastal inestimable historical and artistic value. As the guardian of a millenary history, Lazio concentrates natural attractions and preserves evidence of an artistic, cultural and monumental heritage even beyond the confines of the Eternal City.

Among the various cultural events scheduled, the activities of the project” Under the Stars of Lazio” continue in Dubai, with meetings with star chefs of Lazio in order to showcase and represent the excellence of regional cuisine on the forefront of Expo, as evidence to an eternal cultural discovery, not exclusively gastronomic, of the territory.

The work of the delegation will continue today Tuesday March 8 with the signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Chamber of Commerce of Rome and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce & Industry. A meeting between the Emirate and Lazio economic ecosystem, aimed at starting a path of collaboration on two priority areas: the promotion of commercial internationalization processes and partnerships on paths related to the attraction of investments, the meeting between ecosystems of innovation and international co-planning.

During the meeting, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be signed by the President of the Chamber of Commerce of Rome, Lorenzo Tagliavanti, and his Emirati counterpart, Hamad Buamim, with the aim of creating a stable platform for the exchange of opportunities and sharing of bi-lateral economic and commercial programs and initiatives.

The agreement is “a strategic step in the consolidation of relations between Italy and the UAE, to promote and facilitate effective cooperation in relation to commercial, economic and investment activities. Lazio is one of the great Italian regions for its production capacity, tourist offer, food and wine excellence, and high innovation rate sectors. We believe that these great resources can be enhanced through a more intense relationship of exchanges and relations with the UAE, which already today represents an important reference point for our economy,” said President Nicola Zingaretti, present at the signing together with Giuseppe Finocchiaro, Consul General of Italy;Paolo Orneli, Regional Minister for Economic Development, Trade and Crafts, Research, Startup and Innovation of Lazio; Quirino Briganti, Responsible for Lazio Region activities at “Expo 2020 Dubai”; Angelo Camilli, President of Unindustria Lazio and Nicola Tasco, President of Lazio Innova.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, established in 1965, was created to support the national economy and today associates over 275,000 businesses representing all economic sectors. The UAE has launched and is implementing the Vision 2050 strategy with the objective of developing an economic and political model capable of ensuring the creation and maintenance of a sustainable and diversified economy, flexible in adopting new economic policies to disengage from oil revenues and develop other industrial sectors to ensure growth and progress through three pillars: Infrastructure & mobility; Tourism, hospitality and real estate market; Energy.

In 2021, UAE GDP grew by 1.3%, of which 30% is related to oil & gas, 17% to tourism, 12% to construction. Between 2019 and 2020, the interchange with Lazio grew by 6%, mainly in sectors converging with the S3 of the Lazio Region: life sciences, tourism, cybersecurity, aerospace, technological innovation, interchange of university students in research activities.

Also on March 8, the busy calendar of events includes a meeting with theInternational Investors Council, a body that plays a key role in the Emirati economy, supporting UAE companies in decision-making processes regarding foreign investments, providing indications and significant parameters for all possible areas of investment in the world. Members of the International Investors Council include, inter alia, the UAE Ministry of Economy, UAE Ministry of Finance, UAE General Authority for Civil Aviation, Etisalat Group, Dubai Holding the Millennium & Copthorne Middle East/Africa. The body is, therefore, an important platform with which to dialogue with the aim of attracting Emirati investments to our region. In this perspective, on the indication of the Embassy, our delegations (Unioncamere, Unindustria, etc.) have already been asked to indicate concrete projects for the attraction of investments to be presented during the meeting.

On Wednesday, March 9, the delegation’s work will continue with a visit to the “Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park”, a center of excellence established in 2016 that connects 22 universities, with more than 70,000 students and 2,000 PhDs, whose objectives include the development of a “triple helix” model of innovation processes between universities, research centers, government and companies. The Technology Park focuses on 6 research areas for development in the region of Water Resource Management, Renewable Energy, Environmental Technology, Transportation, Digitization, Artificial Intelligence

On this occasion, a memorandum of understanding will be signed between the CEO of SRTIP, Hussain Al Mahmoudi, and the President of Lazio Innova, Nicola Tasco, with the aim of deepening the opportunities for collaboration in the field of internationalization, open innovation and internationalization of the university system, in a mutual exchange of information in areas of mutual interest. The agreement follows on from a meeting that took place last September in Rome, at the headquarters of Lazio Innova, during which issues related to big data and tools to support the business world and research were discussed, as a strategic lever to promote innovation, startups and innovative SMEs in a new model of sustainable development.