https://arab.news/8g574
- Italian envoy’s remarks came on the sidelines of Arab News’ General Assembly
- Series of initiatives by Italian Embassy in Abu Dhabi set to launch in coming months in UAE
DUBAI: Cultural diplomacy should be “a key factor” to improve the “already excellent relationship between Italy, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region countries,” said Ambassador of Italy to the UAE Lorenzo Fanara during his meeting in Dubai on Sunday with Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal Abbas.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the 2022 General Assembly of Arab News, which was also attended by the newspaper’s Assistant Editor-in-Chief Noor Nugali and its Italy correspondent Francesco Bongarra.
Abbas explained to the Italian envoy the reach and role of Arab News as the “voice of a changing region.”
Fanara, who was appointed ambassador of Italy to the UAE after serving as an ambassador also in Tunis, stressed the importance of “cultural diplomacy” as an “instrument to connect the common history and heritage linking Italy and the Gulf countries.
“A long-standing relationship cannot be based only on business,” the envoy said, after presenting a series of cultural initiatives the Italian Embassy in Abu Dhabi plans to organize in the next months both in the UAE capital city and Dubai.
“Our histories and cultures are interconnected; we belong to the same cultural community. This is why we have to do our best to know each other’s heritage and enhance what unites us,” Fanara added.