The Ambassador of Italy to the United States, Marco Peronaci, today concluded his three-day visit to Texas, accompanied by the Consul General of Italy in Houston, Mauro Lorenzini.
“I chose Texas for my first official visit outside Washington to signal Italy’s strong interest in strengthening relations with the Lone Star State,” commented Ambassador Peronaci. “In recent years, our presence in this State has grown significantly, with more and more Italian companies investing here. There is great potential to deepen our cooperation, particularly in the fields of energy, space, medicine, and biotechnology.”
On Wednesday, September 10th, Ambassador Peronaci attended the opening of the exhibition “Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection” at the Renzo Piano Pavilion of the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, together with Museum Director Eric Lee and the President of the Torlonia Foundation, Alessandro Poma Murialdo. This major exhibition of statues from Ancient Rome demonstrates the strong interest in classical art on the part of one of Texas’s leading museums.
Yesterday, the Ambassador met in Austin, the state capital, with Governor Greg Abbott, highlighting how the presence of over 200 Italian companies and Italy’s strong institutional presence in Texas (in addition to the Italian Consulate General, an Italian Trade Agency office and the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce are also present) confirm Italy’s keen interest in strengthening ties with the State. In acknowledging the significant contribution of the Italian and Italian-American community, Abbott expressed strong appreciation for the work of Prime Minister Meloni and the Italian Government in addressing the challenges of migration policies, a particularly pressing issue in Texas as well.
Later in Houston, Peronaci met with the Italian community. “The high-level presence of Italian scientists, researchers, and entrepreneurs here in Texas represents an important driving force for promoting Italian excellence and Made in Italy,” stressed the Ambassador. “Concrete examples of cutting-edge achievements in science, innovation, and high-quality production contribute to projecting an image of Italy as a country with great innovative and entrepreneurial capacity,” he added.
This morning, after visiting the Consulate General of Italy in Houston for a meeting with the staff, the Ambassador visited NASA’s Johnson Space Center, a major space facility as well as a hub for research and training for human spaceflight. During the visit, Ambassador Peronaci was accompanied by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano. The Ambassador recalled how space cooperation is one of the strategic priorities in the Italy-U.S. relationship.
