Message from Italian Ambassador in Islamabad

We celebrate also this year on the 2nd of June the Italian National Day. But this year is very special for Italy because it is the 150th anniversary of the Italian Unity. I would like to be able to transmit to the Pakistani friends the warm sentiments that this anniversary is arousing in the Italian public.
Of course every Italian school boy has learnt about the fights and events of the Italian Unity, but all of us were moved when we remembered, during a successful TV program, that the author of the Italian National Anthem, Mameli, was a 21 years old boy at the time he died in defence of the Roman Republic. Could we have the same strength of spirit today of that young man?
The wind of change seems to visit the Muslim World, and Pakistan faces a special time of trial. For us, the time of the Italian Unity 150 years ago was a time of trial. But times of trial are also an opportunity if people show to have strength of spirit. Italy considers itself a friend of Pakistan, and we trust the Pakistani people to have strength of spirit also in these times of trial.
We look to a Pakistan which will be one of the greatest economies in the world. With a vast population, a great cultural heritage, spanning back millennia, a variety of raw materials, and many resilient people longing for always better education. But especially a nation bestowed with strength of spirit.
Let me mention only few examples of fruitful co-operation between Pakistan and Italy which are encouraging for the future, and I would like to start with Jamshed Iqbal. I received him today at the Embassy. He is a Pakistani engineer, who got a PhD in advanced robotics in the University of Genoa. With this new title and expertise, he is ready to work in a Pakistani university or in some prestigious company.
Last year we were very happy to see a few hundreds of Pakistani engineers starting their university in the Poitecnico di Torino and the Politecnico di Milano. It was very encouraging to see that also this year we have another group of some hundreds students of engineering that apply for the same universities. It is a new trend. Education is of course the best foundation of progress.
aPIAGGIO company, the Italian company that brought to Pakistan so many Vespa in the past decades, is back now to Pakistan not only as an exporter but to produce here motorcycles in co-operation with the Pakistani company, Ravi Automobiles (Pvt Ltd). By the way the husband of one of my daughters is requesting me to bring him from Pakistan an old Vespa, which is difficult to find in Italy today.
A third good example. I was invited to Gujranwala to attend the opening ceremony of a show room of some of the best tiles of Pakistan, and we could also add, of the world. It is a product of the co-operation between a Pakistan giant company, Master Tiles, and a number of Italian companies from Sassuolo and Bergamo. The Italian guests present at the ceremony told me that it is difficult to find in Italy the high quality displayed at the Pakistani show room of Gujranwala.
Let me offer a fourth example. During my last visit to Lahore, I had the pleasure to have a conversation with some representatives of Pakistan Council of Design. Fashion is one of the strengths of the Italian economy. Now Pakistan is showing a great talent also in Fashion. Some Pakistani designers are already attending the fashion show of Milan and other will join next autumn. A flavour of Asia to Italy?
I could continue the list but these four examples seem to me already clear to show the potential of the Pakistani economy and how it can successfully cooperate with an economy like the Italian. Pakistan zinda bad ! and.... tanti auguri, cari Italiani in Pakistan, per l'anniversario dei 150 anni dell' Unita Italiana. Pakistan zinda bad e Viva l'Italia !!!