International Mediterranean Forum 2022

The opening speeches in the presence of Italy's President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella: 

Roberto Fico (President of the Chamber of Deputies, Italy), Mario Draghi (President of the Council of Ministers, Italy), Dubravka Šuica (Vice President and Commissioner for Demography and Democracy), Mara Carfagna (Minister for the South and Territorial Cohesion).

The arrival of Italy's President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella

Message from Nadia Calviño, First Deputy Prime Minister of Spain and Minister for Economy and Digitalization



The Minister for Southern Italy and Territorial Cohesion and The European House - Ambrosetti, with the support of some key players (Agenzia per la Coesione Territoriale, Gruppo FS Italiane, Intesa Sanpaolo, MSC Group, Adler, Mediocredito Centrale), organised the first International Mediterranean Forum: "Verso Sud (Looking Southward): Europe's strategy for a new geopolitical, economic and socio-cultural season in the Mediterranean".

The Forum aims to build a public-private platform - at national and international level - gathering, in a Think Tank, the best private players, institutions, representatives from the Academia and research. The goal is to build, highlight and communicate a new Southern Italy, as the strategic Mediterranean platform for Italy and Europe.

About the event

The first edition was held on May 13-14, 2022, at Villa Zagara in Sorrento (in Italy's Campania Region). The summit was preceded by intensive research work supported by an Advisory Board also participated by the Italian Government. It was a unique opportunity to discuss the development trajectories of Southern Italy in the light of the challenges and strategic guidelines that affect the macro-region of the Wider Mediterranean.

The participants

The initiative hosted Ministers, business leaders and opinion leaders from the countries in the Wider Mediterranean, to identify in a shared view the key investment opportunities, development strategies and priorities for the South of Italy, while offering opportunities for debate and qualified networking for participants.

The topics

• The key role of the Economy of the Sea for the competitiveness and the creation of value in the South of Italy and the Mediterranean
• The role of the infrastructural investments for the South and the Mediterranean and models for promoting their development 
• The challenge of Human Capital at the test of energy, and digital transition
• Climate change and energy transition, good practices, guidelines, and the role of the business community
• Investments in the productive sector and the challenge of supply chain reconfiguration
  

  
  

The event was opened by Mara Carfagna (Minister for the South and Territorial Cohesion) and Valerio De Molli (CEO and Managing Partner, The European House - Ambrosetti).

Following the speakers who participated in the Forum, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella: Roberto Fico (President of the Chamber of Deputies, Italy), Mario Draghi (President of the Council of Ministers, Italy), Sheikha Hissah Saad Al Sabah (Princess, President of the Council of Arab Businesswomen, Kuwait), Abdel Aziz Abu Hamad Aluwaisheg (Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Gulf Cooperation Council, Saudi Arabia), Mohamed Arkab (Minister of Energy and Mines, Algeria), Manuel Besteiro Galindo (President, General Assembly, Mediterranean Rail Freight Corridor), Renato Brunetta (Minister for Public Administration, Italy), Carlo Calenda (Action), Massimiliano Cesare (Managing Director, MCC - Mediocredito Centrale; spokesperson of the Advisory Board "Verso Sud"), Roberto Cingolani (Minister for Ecological Transition, Italy), Vittorio Colao (Minister for Technological Innovation and the Digital Transition, Italy), Giuseppe Conte (M5S), António Costa Silva (Minister for Economy and the Sea, Portugal), Massimo Deandreis (Director General, SRM - Intesa Sanpaolo; spokesperson of the Advisory Board "Verso Sud"), Vincenzo De Luca (President, Campania Region), Luigi Di Maio (Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy), Marouane El Abassi (Governor, Central Bank of Tunisia), Michele Emiliano (President, Regione Puglia - videoconference), Fabrizio Favara (Chief Strategy Officer, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane), Luciano Fontana (Director, Corriere della Sera), Daniele Franco (Minister of Economy and Finance, Italy), Massimo Garavaglia (Minister of Tourism, Italy), Mariastella Gelmini (Minister for Regional Affairs and Autonomies, Italy), Paolo Gentiloni (European Commissioner for Economy - videoconference), Massimiliano Giansanti (President, Confagricoltura), Giancarlo Giorgetti (Minister for Economic Development, Italy), Enrico Giovannini (Minister of Infrastructure and Sustainable Mobility, Italy), Arancha González (Dean, Paris School of International Affairs, Sciences Po; former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Spain), Francesco Guerrera (Deputy Director, La Repubblica), Toufik Hakkar (President and CEO, Sonatrach, Algeria), Abdelkrim Harchaoui (Special Envoy with special responsibility for economic diplomacy to the Minister for Foreign Affairs; former Minister for Finance and Trade, Algeria), Maria Latella (journalist, Radio24 and SkyTg24), Enrico Letta (PD), Patrizia Lombardi (President of the Italian Network of Universities for Sustainable Development; spokesperson of the Advisory Board "Towards the South"), Gaetano Manfredi (Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Naples), Stefano Manservisi (Professor and Member of the International Independent Task Force on Creative Climate Action; Sciences Po-Paris School for International Affairs; spokesperson of the Advisory Board "Verso Sud"), Marco Marsilio (President, Abruzzo Region), Bernardo Mattarella (CEO, MCC - Mediocredito Centrale; spokesperson for the Advisory Board "Verso Sud"), Giorgia Meloni (Fratelli d'Italia - videoconference), Enrico Mentana (Director, La7), Marco Minniti (President, Fondazione Med-Or), Federico Monga (Direttore, Il Mattino), Pierre Moscovici (President, Court of Auditors, France), Nello Musumeci (President, Sicilian Region), Roberto Occhiuto (President, Calabria Region), Gianni Onorato (Managing Director, MSC Cruises), Kyriakos Pierrakakis (Minister of Digital Governance, Greece), Stefano Pontecorvo (former Senior Civilian Representative of NATO in Afghanistan), Ettore Prandini (President, Coldiretti), Anna Roscio (Executive Director Sales and Marketing Enterprises, Intesa Sanpaolo), Mustafa Sanalla (President, National Oil Corporation, Libya), Gennaro Sangiuliano (Director, TG2), Paolo Scudieri (President, Adler Group), Adnan Shihab-Eldin (Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies; former Secretary General, OPEC), Dubravka Šuica (Vice President and Commissioner for Demography and Democracy), Antonio Tajani (Forza Italia), Donato Toma (President, Regione Molise / President), Maarten Lulof van Aalderen (Correspondent in Italy, De Telegraaf; spokesman for the Advisory Board "Verso Sud").