Ambassador Mario Vattani bids farewell to Singapore

The diplomat is leaving the city-state. We publish here an excerpt of his farewell to the Italian community, made in a video on YouTube 

As I prepare to leave this office, I would like to say goodbye to the members of our Italian community in Singapore. Your support and presence have been essential in developing this dynamic partnership with Singapore. I believe that we have indeed succeeded in making the opportunities offered by Singapore better known in Italy, and the proof of this are the many agreements signed, the many visits by senior officials we have welcomed, from those responsible for foreign affairs and transport to those for infrastructure, as well as the missions of our Ministry of the Interior, the Bank of Italy and many academics. With this government, Italy is increasingly looking to South-East Asia as a region of great growth for our companies, and the commitment will increase in Singapore given its geopolitical and economic centrality. You will recall that right here, on 1 May, the very first phase of the Indo-Pacific campaign of our most modern navy ship, the Francesco Morosini, began. For us Singapore is an important showcase, a country able to anticipate trends that will be followed by the rest of a region with 600 million inhabitants, and for this reason since I arrived I have tried in every way to increase our visibility with popular events such as the Italian Festival, which totalled something like 300,000 visitors this year. We have also increased our presence from a structural point of view. Since September last year, we have been able to move the Embassy to a new prestigious and central location that also houses a showroom for our companies. We know that one characteristic of Singapore is the high concentration of capital, which is why we launched the Global Sorta last year, successfully bringing our start-ups here. It is no coincidence that our Minister of Foreign Affairs President Antonio Tajani chose Singapore along with San Francisco and Tel Aviv to create an Italian Innovation Hub. Singapore has ambitious plans for the future and we can work together to realise them. Now my appointment as Commissioner General for Italy at Expo Osaka 2025 is a new challenge and I am sure that we will be able to create an exceptional showcase in Osaka for companies, creating new challenges for the future.