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An ambassador to tell the story of Italian industry, a mix of ingenuity, innovation, ability to do, and do well, to unite culture and society: those many ingredients that represent the value of the company. The choice fell on a polytechnic genius who combined art and science, mechanic and humanist: Leonardo da Vinci. From this premise, Confindustria’s great project was launched to bring Leonardo to the USA, with a monographic exhibition, the first in the United States, of 12 sheets of the Atlantic Code, on the occasion of the opening of a branch of the association in Washington.
From Tuesday 20 June, the day of the inauguration, they have been exhibited at the Martin Luther King JR Memorial Library in Washington; Wednesday 21st there is the cutting of the ribbon of the Confindustria headquarters, at 1025 Connecticut Avenue NW, another piece of the “Confindustria in the world” strategy, launched to give a further boost to international relations and push the presence of the Italian entrepreneurial system on this market, after the openings of the offices in Kiev and Singapore in recent months.
«Doing business is culture. We cannot create economic relationships without letting people know who we are, who we represent, without making ourselves known. Culture is essential to create the optimal conditions for economic relations. It is important to strengthen the bond between Italy and the USA, a bond that is already historic, to create a bridge between Italian companies and the American market», said Carlo Bonomi, in the press conference to present the exhibition. The United States, he stressed, have great economic and strategic importance: they are the first non-European market for our exports, which last year exceeded the record of 600 billion, and the second overall, after Germany, with more than 11% of the total. Exhibition and new headquarters: «It’s a country operation – he explained – an instrument of economic diplomacy. We want to communicate that industry is not just business and culture is able to build bridges».
“Imagining the future. Leonardo da Vinci: In The Mind Of An Italian Genius»: the title is already evocative of the message it is intended to express, enhancing Leonardo’s ability to innovate and look to the future, as Italian entrepreneurs do. The Veneranda Biblioteca Ambrosiana, which houses the 1119 sheets of the Codex Atlanticus, has shared the initiative of Confindustria, which coincides with their social mission of spreading and making culture open, making it, in this case, go hand in hand with business . An exhibition, curated by the director of the Ambrosiana, Monsignor Alberto Rocca, open to all and also suitable for children: the Martin Luther King JR Memorial Library is free and with its public vocation it has become a nerve center of US institutions. Furthermore, an interactive exhibition has been set up with the Carnegie Science Center to allow children to draw and plan on the basis of the tables on display (all will be available in digital format). A strategic and ambitious project that has been supported by some partners: Intesa Sanpaolo, ITA Airways, 24 Ore Cultura, Dolce&Gabbana, Dompé, Pirelli and Trenitalia.
Being present with greater strength overseas, Bonomi explained in the press conference, is extremely strategic for the new geopolitical balances, for the reconfiguration of the added value chains that is taking place, for the competitiveness challenge that the USA is launching to others continents with the Inflacion Reduction Act, which will push many companies to invest. Furthermore, 2024 will be an important year, there will be US and European presidential elections, in June Italy will have the presidency of the G7 and therefore Confindustria will have that of the B7. It is crucial to have solid relationships. Already in these days of mission to Washington, the leaders of Confindustria will have institutional meetings, including the US Chamber of Commerce and the World Bank.