World Monitor Mag, Industrial Overview WM_November_2018_WEB_Version | Page 21

DESTINATION europe
Representing Italy in Kazakhstan is
challenging. Kazakhstan is so far away,
and not so very well known to most
Italians. Your country is also very unique.
It is a peaceful state committed to
prosperity and international dialogue.
We have all the potential to accomplish
great things in this land. We have been
mutually very successful in oil and gas, in
agribusiness, infrastructure, and in goods’
consumption cooperation.
It is amazing how many Italian restaurants
are in Astana and Almaty. There are so
many people applying for Italian visas in
Kazakhstan. People here appreciate Italy
very much. And this is also amazing how
many Kazakhstanis can speak and sing in
Italian. They recognize the special charm of
our country that only this year celebrated
Rossini and will be celebrating Leonardo da
Vinci and Dante Alighieri in the upcoming
years. So many countries have seen all that
in Italy and yet we still suffer from the same
old prejudice about us.
The Ambassador’s job is fascinating
and complicated at the same time. You
should be approachable to everyone,
support conversations, be part of the
game, a theatre. Sometimes we are even
called Mafia (the audience is laughing).
Well, we invented Comedia del ‘Arte, so
theatre is everyday life for us. You have
to be patient, reflect on jokes properly,
develop the conversation in an easy
and sometimes humorous context, and
become a part of the game.
It feels, Mr Ambassador, that your
personal attitude reflects on your
experience here. From what you
have shared the main unique quality
of yours is acceptance. This is very
impressive.
What has helped you to become
Ambassador, apart from inclusiveness
and acceptance? What influenced you
to reach this position in your career?
The list is very long. You definitely need a
good amount of luck to be successful in
this job. Apart from luck, it is strong family
background and a strong education.
There are also so many clichés about
Italian families: ten children, eating
pasta every day. What is still true to
Italian families is how we keep up values.
Parents are crazy about their children –
they care too much for what their children
do. But such love in Italian family gives
you a ‘second bone’ or ‘back bone’, as we
say. It is your foundation that makes you
stronger.
My daughter, for instance, works in
Germany. Being far away, she loves
the fact that she can still come to her
family with any issue. The other aspect –
education – does not only refer to school,
but also is everything in life that gives you
a chance to learn and grow as a person.
I was very lucky to be raised at a very
civilized neighborhood in Rome with
great stimulus for growth. You have good
teachers at school, a good landscape
around you, cultural heritage, music and
arts everywhere. Even when you go to
a pizzeria, someone is singing a song or
does something artistic. I absorbed it all
and it made me extremely fortunate.
You mentioned one of the most
important aspects in everyone’s lives –
family. You have probably been given
certain advice from your father when
you were younger or pursued your
career. Going back in your lifetime
what did you dream of when you were
a kid? What special advice did your
father give you to help you in your
career?
When I was a school boy, I went once to a
wonderful disco party. I had seen the guy
named Gigi. He was a piano player. All the
girls were around him, everyone offering
him a drink. I went back to my dad and
said: “I want to be a piano player”. My dad
replied: “This is not a wise decision, boy.
Keep studying, forget the piano player
and the bar. You’ll get a job that pays well
and then you can have any piano player
to play for you”. It was a little confusing
at that particular time. Yet, I realized later
my father was right.
Another dream I had was to become an
architect. When you grow up in Italy and
look around, you see beautiful churches:
one differs from another. In Rome you are
shocked the first time you see St Peter’s
Basilica and St Peter’s Square. You think:
“Why does this impress me so much?”
There was Michelangelo, who built
this church. It is the symbol of beauty,
harmony. There are no other cathedrals
like this. The square with the colonnade
made by Bernini. It exists in such a
harmony with the old square. It makes
you wonder why beauty is so important.
It is an immaterial thing, because it fills
your brain and your heart. It gives you the
understanding of harmony elements. It
evokes you to think, make certain choices.
Beauty is the symbol for the quality of
living that is in your own hands. That is
why I was very enthusiastic about being
an architect.
The first example of technology in the
older Roman days was when Roman
genies took water from a Therma region
and brought it to Roma. The largest
technology that made Rome so powerful
later.
Today we have Renzo Piano who built
the auditorium in Roma few years
ago. He is the opposite of the heavy
architecture of the Roman Empire. His
constructions are very light, with new
technological materials and again the
sense of harmony. It looks like a turtle
from the outside. When you get inside
the acoustics are perfect. So, you see new
materials and a new vision of the world,
supported by EUROBAK
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