RIYADH: The Italian Embassy in Riyadh launched a special national branding campaign to promote Made in Italy at a reception in the ambassador’s residence in the Diplomatic Quarter on Thursday. The campaign was devised by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in collaboration with ICE, the Italian Trade Agency, and was officially launched on Nov. 29 with a presentation to the international press by Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio. Di Maio said: “The objective of this first nation branding campaign is to explain who we are in 360 degrees, starting from the values that identify Italy.” The campaign is aimed at “those who look from the outside and still don’t know us, or know us superficially” and is geared towards allowing them to “understand who we are” as well as “what we produce and what we can do.” “This is why the first phase of the campaign, lasting until March next year, will focus on the story of our values that make Italian people special around the world: creativity, passion, tradition, style, innovation and diversity,” the minister said. Italian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Roberto Cantone (Sitting in last row) at nation branding campaign launch program. (AN photo by Saad Aldossari) The second phase, from March to August, will include targeted media initiatives promoting specific high value production chains of ‘Made in Italy.’ This campaign will help small and medium-sized Italian companies to be better known in Saudi Arabia. Roberto Cantone , Italian ambassador BeIT encompasses 26 countries in Europe, Asia and Northern America – the reference markets for Italian exports and those with high potential for their products. Saudi Arabia is one of the countries included in the communication campaign. The initiative has a global dimension, talking to the international public in an original and innovative way about Italy, its values, skills and extraordinary potential, as well as supporting the internationalization of the supply chains of the Italian production system and expanding and diversifying the reference foreign markets for Italian small and medium-sized enterprises. The campaign will be mainly developed on digital channels and will involve the construction of a new visual and linguistic identity for the promotion of Italy in the world, with dedicated platforms and “landing pages,” social profiles and original content (texts, audio and video) that will be created throughout the campaign. Speaking to Arab News, Italian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Roberto Cantone said: “We have started with the nation branding campaign in Saudi Arabia as they like Italy and they know Italian brands very well. These kinds of initiatives are very important also because the COVID-19 pandemic created a lot of difficulties in interactions; this will help realign the relations between the two friendly countries and also to explain what Italy can offer in different sectors: cultural, business and entertainment.” Other than promoting Italy as a brand, beIT will support the internationalization of the supply chains of the country’s production systems, and help to expand and diversify the foreign markets of reference for small and medium-sized Italian companies. As the envoy said: “The big Italian brands such as Ferrari, Maserati or Italian fashion brands don’t really need this campaign to promote their products because they are well known, but one particularity of Italy is that it has a good number of small and medium-sized enterprises that offer very high-quality products, and this campaign will help SMEs to be better known in Saudi Arabia.” Commenting on the defence partnership, the envoy said: “I think that security is a very important issue all around the world, and for that reason Italy is very well known with companies such as Leonardo, a key player in aerospace. This kind of relationship with Saudi Arabia already exists, and we will try to promote it with much more collaboration.” Valerio Cendali Pignatelli, head of the economic and commercial section at the Italian Embassy, said in a presentation on bilateral trade that AgustaWestland-Leonardo Helicopters are developing helicopter transport services in Saudi Arabia, and 60 AW139 helicopters are already provided to institutional and private clients, including The Helicopters Company (THC), which is owned by Public Investment Fund. Asked about Italian participation in Riyadh Season, Cantone said: “The company that organized the big event presentation at the inauguration was an Italian company. I hope that next year we will organize bigger events in Riyadh, and that our very famous Andrea Bocelli will perform in Riyadh.” The Italian tenor and opera singer regaled revelers during a concert at the Hegra World Heritage Site in AlUla on April 8 this year. On Saudi-Italian ties in information and communication technology, Pignatelli said that the Blue and Raman Submarine Fibre Optic Cable Systems are connecting India to Europe through Saudi Arabia. Google, in cooperation with Sparkle (the Italian telecommunication service provider), and Zain Saudi Arabia are implementing partners. Italian exports to Saudi Arabia in 2020 amounted to euro 3.2 billion ($3.6 billion), while imports from Saudi Arabia totaled euro 2.9 billion.