Yesterday, the Ambassador of Italy to the United States, H.E. Marco Peronaci, concluded a very intense mission to the West Coast, which began last week in San Francisco and continued over the past few days in Los Angeles.
“California is a strategic partner for Italy, and the objective of my mission was to give a new push to our collaboration in particular on innovation, energy transition, sustainability, scientific research, and the development of advanced supply chains,” commented the Ambassador. “The entire ‘Sistema Italia’ in California is working to strengthen the bonds with the wealthiest and most populous American State, in order to create new investment flows, develop industrial partnerships, and support the internationalization of Italian companies.”
Assisted by the Consul General in San Francisco Massimo Carnelos, Ambassador Peronaci held a series of engagements alongside the President of the Lazio Region, Francesco Rocca, who was on an official visit to California during the same days. Of particular note were the meeting in Sacramento with California Governor Gavin Newsom and the meeting with the Mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie. Furthermore, Peronaci and Rocca participated in the “From Rome to Silicon Valley” event organized by Innovit, aimed at strengthening ties between Californian and Lazio-based companies in the key sectors of technology, innovation, and ecological transition. Another significant moment was the inauguration of the exhibition “The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy,” organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), the largest and most comprehensive exhibition ever dedicated to the Etruscan civilization in the United States.
Together with our Consul General in Los Angeles, Raffaella Valentini, Peronaci attended a proclamation ceremony in his honor organized by the Los Angeles City Council, during which the strong bond between Italy and Southern California was highlighted. The intense program continued with visits to, among others, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures—an architectural jewel designed by Renzo Piano that hosts important chapters of film history, including Italian cinema—the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the California Institute of Technology.
Both in San Francisco and Los Angeles, the Ambassador met with representatives of the Italian and Italian-American community active in California, with particular attention to entrepreneurs and economic operators, as well as scientists and professors in senior positions in the most prestigious and important Californian scientific institutions.
The Ambassador also met with the staff of the Italian Consulate General in San Francisco and the staff of the Consulate General in Los Angeles, as well as the team of the Italian Trade Agency office and the Italian Cultural Institute of Los Angeles. He expressed his appreciation and gratitude to all of them for the work performed every day by our ‘Sistema Italia’ for the growing Italian community in California, as well as for the crucial action of promoting our country in a competitive and vital State such as California.
