Nave Vespucci becomes a Travelling Expo of Made in Italy

The Villaggio Italia project, Andreoli explains, was financed with public and private funds to the tune of 40 million. The 11 participating ministries have raised 30 million; the other 10 million have been advanced by the general contractor, i.e. the communication agency Ninetynine, which won the public-private partnership tender, called ad hoc, and which will recover them by selling spaces to private individuals. Anything that will be collected in excess of that 10 million through sales will be recovered by the ministries. Admission is free for visitors, while sponsors and participating companies, who wish to propose themselves either individually or through the various supply chains, will pay. For example, a fashion house that wants to hold a fashion show will pay for the space'.

The objectives, says Andreoli, are threefold: 'Firstly, to take advantage of the tens of thousands of people who, in every port, go to visit the Vespucci. In Acapulco (where the ship is moored now, ndr) 22 thousand people have come up to visit her. And in Buenos Aires (where she had previously stopped for scheduled maintenance, ndr) 12,500 came on board, despite a cloudburst. The second objective is to bring the excellence of Made in Italy to the world. The third is to ensure that all Italians abroad can recognise in the Vespucci icon an image they can feel proud of".

Berutti, for his part, emphasises the tasks that the Vespucci will perform on its round-the-world voyage, during which, among other things, it will round Cape Horn for the first time (on 5 April 2024). "The ship," says the admiral, "will carry out training and educational activities in unusual basins; it will cooperate with friendly and allied navies; it will carry out naval diplomacy operations, supporting national foreign policy guidelines; it will support initiatives of national and international organisations and associations. Furthermore, four macro themes have been identified to be developed during the campaign: education and training, national culture and maritime traditions, economy and Made in Italy, environmental protection and sustainability.

The admiral also takes stock of how strategic the sea is for our trade: "We import 60% of raw materials by sea, 25% of world traffic passes through the Mediterranean. Due to the crisis in the Red Sea, 40% of traffic no longer passes through the Suez Canal and our ports have lost 10% of traffic from December to today".

Castronovo recalls, on the other hand, how the Minister for Enterprise, Adolfo Urso, has "immediately embraced the Vespucci and the Villaggio Italia initiative," which is in line with the actions of the ministry, set in motion to channel foreign capital to Italian companies; one of which is "the One-stop shop for investment attraction. La Rosa, on the other hand, highlights how, for the promotion of Italian products, it is "fundamental to have a clear strategy that strengthens the image of our country abroad. On this basis, the Vespucci ship is the icing on the cake'.