Minister Adolfo Urso promises more trade

On the agenda: increasing economic and cultural exchanges to match the political relations

Shortly after his recent arrival in Toronto, Italy's Minister for Foreign Trade Adolfo Urso spoke about the relationship between Italy and Canada, and "of increasing political, economical and cultural importance."
Viva Italia, the exhibition held in the Holt Renfrew stores, seems to represent a new way of promoting Made-in-Italy products.
"With Viva Italia we decided to address directly the end users, offering them an opportunity for verifying first-hand the highest quality of our products in the fields of clothing, design and food. The choice of Canada for such a wide-ranging initiative was dictated by two main factors: an increasingly educated market looking for high-level products, and a vast community of Italian heritage that has achieved success in every field, from business to politics."
Being Italian seems trendier and trendier...
"That's because of the success of what I usually call 'personal style', a lifestyle where people surround themselves with quality things, a sector where Italy has very few rivals in the world."
Let's go back to Canada, a country where Italian quality products often had a hard time penetrating.
"Political relations between Italy and Canada were always excellent; we often fought the same battles within the United Nations and NATO. On the other hand, trade, though good, never shined. We are now working to bridge this gap, improving our mutual knowledge. Moreover, the social level of the average Canadian increased noticeably, which makes presenting quality products and gaining acceptance for them quite easier.
"Additionally, during my visit I will meet in Ottawa with members of the Federal government in order to remove the bottlenecks that hampered trade in some sectors. In particular we are trying to get Canadian authorities to recognize the marks of origin and quality, nowadays in widespread use throughout Italy and Europe: DOC and DOP [Denomination of Controlled Origin and Denomination of Protected Origin]. As to us, we are studying a careful and partial opening to genetically modified products that are in common use in Canada."
This effort is not limited to the two governments...
"No, industrialists' associations and other lobbies also had their say. In the last few months we formed a bilateral board, the Business Council, where everybody's needs were compared."
Now you'll go to Ottawa for Viva Italia and intergovernmental meetings.
"Not only that, I'll also meet Mayor Bob Chiarelli for the project of twinning Ottawa with Catania, the 'Silicon valleys' of our two countries. Then, in October, a Canadian delegation will come to Sicily to study possible economic and academic collaborations with the universities of Catania and Palermo."
The recession in the U.S. shows no sign of ending, but Canadian economy keeps rising...
"This pleases us very much. Just today I visited the International Machine Show in Chicago and Italian manufacturers of industrial machinery underscored that their exports to the U.S.A. decreased, but that the North American figures were positive, thanks to an unbelievable 40 percent increase in exports towards Canada."

Publication Date: 2002-09-22
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=1784