Message from Ambassador Marco Clemente

Dear Friends,I am honored to enjoy the The Manila Times hospitality to celebrate together, with this special 16-page supplement, the National Day of Italy 2024. I hope that, while browsing through it, you will rejoice with me on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the referendum with which Italians decided, on the second day of June 1946 and through a vote opened for the first time to women as well, to make my Country a Republic. The Italian Festa della Repubblica is therefore, among many things, also the feast of democracy. Democracy: an important, but often under attack, value to which all of us are very attached to.This supplement wants to testify not only the affection for our beautiful Italy but also the activity of the Italian Embassy in Manila during these last 12 months. It will show, with a rich and colorful iconography, the vast array of events that the Embassy organized from August 2023 until now in many fields ranging from sport to music, from eno-gastronomy to literature, from cinema to visual art. Moreover, I am particularly proud of the special Festival "The Italian Embassy meets the Youth in Tondo" that from November 2023 until July 2024 has brought (and will bring) fruitful occasions of empowerment and wellbeing to the younger Filipinos, and their families, living in that area of Manila City.Being my last Festa della Repubblica before I retire from the diplomatic service after almost 40 years of a career which took me in all five Continents, I wanted to make this year's Italian Day celebrations really memorable also to mark the special attachment that I and my family will be always feeling for our beloved Philippine nation which has so generously hosted us during my stint as Ambassador of Italy.Italy is not only the Country of formidable cultural tradition in all fields of human knowledge and ingenuity, of unforgettable landscapes and irresistible culinary treasures. In her republican history Italy has also turned, from the tragedy of war and misery, into a political protagonist of nowadays international relations: inter alia, she is one of the seven most industrialized Countries in the world and a founding member of the European Union.This exponential latter was also the result of a remarkable economic development with a per capita average Gross Domestic Product increase, in real terms, of almost two percent per year. In particular, during the last decade Italy has recorded the second highest economic growth among the G7 Countries. All this despite a decline in population of approximately 800 thousand inhabitants.Allow me to share with you some more notable data on Italian economy. Compared to the peak in 2020, Italian debt has fallen by more of 17 percentage points in 2023: the steepest decline among the major economies of the Eurozone. In addition, public debt is increasingly in Italian hands, with a significant reduction in exposure to speculative risks. Inflation falls more than elsewhere: in January 2024, the consumer price index consumer registered a change from the same month of the previous year of plus 0.8 percent. Employment is at an all-time high. At the end of the fourth quarter 2023, Italy had almost 24 million fully employed people that is almost 700 thousand more than in 2019: an employment rate increase particularly marked in the 18-24 age group years. Italian exports are the most competitive in the G-7 area reaching in 2023 a new record of 677 billion dollars: my Country is now the fifth largest world exporter with an increase, over the 2015-2023 period, of 48 percent. In terms of manufacturing trade balance, Italy is fifth in the world and second in Europe. Particularly strong are the sectors with an high technological added value such as pharmaceuticals and aerospace: a feature accompanied by an excellent scientific research system. In recent years, Italian companies have invested heavily in machinery, plants and new technologies with a GDP share of more than 7 percent.I hope this supplement can be a useful instrument to reinforce in your hearts and minds your interest and love for Italy and the Italian people which I have had the honor and privilege to represent in these last years in Manila.Grazie, buona lettura, buona Festa della Repubblica Italiana. Viva l'Italia, viva le Filippine!Salamat, maligayang pagbabasa, maligayang araw ng Republika ng Italya. Mabuhay ang Italya! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!