Message from Ms. Alessandra Schiavo, Consul General of Italy

Message from Ms. Alessandra Schiavo, Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong and Macao

意大利駐港澳總領事格施嘉鳳獻辭

As in previous years, the Consulate General of Italy has focused on promoting economic and commercial ties with Hong Kong, well aware of the importance of this Special Administrative Region as a strategic platform from which to access the ever-growing, promising markets of the PRC and of South East Asia.

In the wine sector, our exports have risen by over 66% since 2010. In 2012, Italy was again the largest participant country in the Hong Kong Wine and Spirits Fair, with 186 producers representing the excellence of our industry. Among other examples of the outstanding performance of our trade with Hong Kong are jewellery exports, which increased by 7.5% last year and recorded an impressive +32% in the first three months of 2013.

These are all very encouraging data, which once more show Hong Kong people’s growing passion for Italian style, artistic traditions and design, as well as for our mouthwatering, extremely wide and diversified eno-gastronomic panorama.

In total, our bilateral trade with Hong Kong expanded from 9.13 billion USD in 2010 to 10.37 billion USD in 2012, making Hong Kong the third biggest partner of Italy in Asia, after China and Japan. Italian exports reached a record 7.15 billion USD, making us the fourth largest EU partner of this vibrant and beautiful city.

We are also very active in the cultural field. At the end of 2011, we opened the Italian Cultural Institute, which, in collaboration with our Consulate General, is setting up a full and interesting programme, ranging from music (classical, opera, jazz and pop) to theatre and cinema, both classical and contemporary. You may have heard of the Salento Actor Award, which I had the honour of bestowing upon Andy Lau at one of the most recent film festivals we held, which received a warm, enthusiastic response from the public.

The Italian community here is not only on the rise (+45% in the last three years), but is also one of the most ancient foreign communities. To help Hong Kong people remember the value that Italians have contributed to these lands, I have launched a book entitled “500 years of Italians in Hong Kong and Macau”, which tells the intriguing story – one far less well-known than it deserves to be - of the courage and passion which have distinguished my fellow citizens in the last half-millennium.

意大利駐港澳總領事格施嘉鳳獻辭

多年以來，意大利總領事館一直把焦點放在與香港的經貿連繫。我們深知香港特別行政區的重要性，它是進入不斷增長的中華人民共和國和東南亞市場的策略性平台。

自二零一零年起，我國的葡萄酒出口上升了逾百分之六十六。在二零一二年，意大利再次成為香港葡萄酒及烈酒展覽會的最大參展國，參展的一百八十六家生產商都是我國業界的表表者。另一凸顯我國與香港貿易成就的例子便是珠寶首飾的出口，去年是上升了百分之七點五，而二零一三年首季更錄得令人印象深刻的上升百分之三十二。以上令人鼓舞的數據，再次顯示香港市民對意大利風格、藝術傳統和設計以及誘人欲滴、豐富多樣的美食等的熱情越來越高漲。

意大利與香港的雙邊貿易已由二零一零年的九十一億三千萬美元增至二零一二年的一百零三億七千萬美元，使香港成為意大利在亞洲的第三大貿易夥伴，僅次於中國內地和日本。意大利出口來港的金額達七十一億五千萬美元，使我國成為在這個具活力和美麗城市的最四大歐盟夥伴。

我們在文化方面也非常活躍，在二零一一年底，我們設立了意大利文化協會，該會聯同本總領事館制訂一套全面和有趣的節目，涵蓋由音樂 (古典、歌劇、爵士樂和流行音樂) 至戲劇和電影，既有古典也有當代。閣下可能會聽過薩蘭托演員大獎，本人榮幸地在最近的電影節上頒發該獎項予劉德華先生，獲得公眾的熱烈和熱情的反應。

在香港的意大利社群在最近三年增加了百分之四十五，而這社群是香港最具歷史的社群之一。為有助香港市民對意大利人在這些土地所作出的貢獻，我們發行了一本名為《意大利人在香港及澳門五百年》的書籍，該書講述一些耐人尋味故事，有些人可能是藉藉無名，但可反映我們的同胞在最近的五百年的勇氣和激情。