Italy’s Ambassador to Qatar, H E Paolo Toschi (left) and Italian Trade Commissioner Doha Office, Paola Lisi during the launch of ‘Week of Italian Cuisine in Qatar’ initiative.
The Italian Embassy in Qatar with the Italian Trade Agency, the trade promotion section of the Embassy, launched the ‘Week of Italian Cuisine in Qatar’ initiative held in Spontini restaurant at Medina Centrale, The Pearl Island, yesterday. The event was attended by several officials, dignitaries, and guests.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of the event, Italy’s Ambassador to Qatar, H E Paolo Toschi said, “It is the most exciting time to be in Doha. Italy is very much present even if our football national team is not here. We have many other teams on side whether it is like here food and beverage, design, infrastructure or defence. There is a lot of Italy in FIFA 2022.”
Speaking about FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 which is being held from November 20 to December 18, the Ambassador said, “We are rooting for Qatar, we are rooting for Qatar’s success in this very complex endeavor.
We want it to be a great celebration of sports and the path that this country is making. When Qatar embarked on this path 12 years ago it recognised it is going to be challenging, it has addressed challenges and continues to do so. Italy is at the side of Qatar moving forward and in developing a successful platform for FIFA World Cup 2022.
Italy and Qatar enjoy a partnership based on high level institutional and political dialogue, solid trade figures, successful investments, rich cultural bonds.
Italy’s Ambassador emphasised that of course, food and beverage, agri food is an important sector, but it is only a fraction of what we do. It is not the largest component of our trade; the largest component is technology particularly defence technology and then we have other endeavors that involve energy and infrastructure. A lot of infrastructure you will see for FIFA 2022 have some link with Italy including the Doha Metro and one of the stadiums in particular is Al Bayt Stadium.
Paola Lisi, Italian Trade Commissioner Doha Office highlighted the import and export between both countries. She said, “During first eight months of 2022, we have an increase of about 75 percent of imports from Italy to Qatar (in terms of food products) which is a great increase. And also, from Qatar to Italy there is a great increase of over 200 percent in total. We export in Qatar pasta, dairy products, cheese, vegetables, and fruits but the variety of Italian food production is so extensive that we aim to expand our exports.”
Many of the features on display in Doha for international fans will include the expertise of ‘Made in Italy’ and reflect the partnership between Rome and Doha. Starting with Italian fashion and design exhibitions in M7 (Forever Valentino) and Msheireb Downtown (Olivetti), there are many Italian contributions to this World Cup. This includes contemporary art on show, the professionalism behind the organization of many events and ceremonies.
