Regional activities continue in the UAE in conjunction with the week dedicated to Italian cuisine in the world. A series of events to support the internationalisation of companies and encourage the opening up of Lazio products and its production system on new markets.
The Forum on Agrifood Industry, dedicated to Technology and Sustainability, is the event that sees Made in Lazio on show with its food and wine excellences and the production chain during the week dedicated to Italian cuisine in the world and in the context of which the conference “A Talk on Agrifood – Lazio’s Cuisine in the World” was held this afternoon at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Dubai. Scenarios and trends of the agro-industry chain. Tradition and Experimentation, Innovation and Sustainability”.
Among others, Carlo Hausmann, General Manager of Agro Camera and Chefs Antonello Colonna and Alessandro Miceli took part in the event, with the involvement of buyers, sector leaders from the Gulf countries and representatives of the XII edition of the “Italian Cuisine World Summit”. It was an opportunity to illustrate the model of the Bracciano Hub for innovative business projects and start-ups in the agrifood chain and to present the videos and the publication “Best in Lazio”, dedicated to the excellence of our territory and produced in collaboration with Gambero Rosso.
WATCH the full video recording of the conference, the photo gallery and the interviews
“Culture is Innovation, Sustainability and Wellbeing – Lazio Eternal Discovery” is the slogan that Regione Lazio has chosen for the Expo in Dubai, which effectively sums up the extraordinary opportunity that this event offers for Made in Lazio to establish new relations and internationalisation with the Arab and Asian world, North Africa and the Mediterranean basin.
The Lazio Region brings to Dubai the cultural and productive excellences of the territory, represented by strategic sectors of international and world innovation, such as aerospace, health, cinema, audiovisual, fashion, precision agriculture and agro-foods.
From 23 to 27 November, food and agriculture will be at the centre of the regional programme in Dubai, to present the regional food supply chain to the world, offer local companies the opportunity to expand or consolidate their presence on foreign markets, and promote the diffusion of typical Lazio products in order to best meet a challenge that also and above all involves innovating processes and the production of typical products, with the aim of reaching all potential consumers.
“Lazio was a region with incredible potential and quality products, but often without adequate strategies and investments to make them stand out. For this reason, we have focused since the beginning of the previous legislature on strong support for Lazio’s excellence, starting with the agricultural and food sector. The results have been seen. Today, at the Expo in Dubai we are bringing a region that is capable of staying in global markets, stronger in exports and more attractive to foreigners, also thanks to the incredible wealth of its traditions. In recent years, we have focused on the sustainability of food, on the value of our land and its products with a great cross-cutting action that concerns the protection and enhancement of our territories, health and quality of life. Today, the Expo in Dubai is an opportunity, after the pandemic crisis, to return to the field and show a newfound strength: that of our companies, our producers, our typical products, our heritage of beauty and creativity, in an international context of extraordinary importance. We can do this by relying on top quality products, excellent know-how and, above all, an innovative and environmentally friendly production model, which we have helped to develop and in which we will continue to invest” said the President of Lazio, Nicola Zingaretti.
In this context, the “Week of Italian Cuisine in the World” – an annual thematic event dedicated to the promotion of quality Italian cuisine and food products, promoted by the network of Embassies, Consulates, Italian Cultural Institutes and ICE Offices abroad – is the best opportunity to put Lazio’s agricultural and food sector at the centre of the great Emirati exhibition.
In our region, this sector has about 50 thousand companies and more than 70 thousand employees, 66% of whom work in farming and the production of animal products and related services and 29% in the food and beverage industry.
The positive indicator of Lazio’s exports in this sector recorded in 2020 a total value of € 1,147,360,492, which attests Lazio substantially to the levels of 2019, despite the pandemic crisis and up compared to 2018 (+65.5 mln €).
“Lazio Region is at Expo Dubai to present to the world the richness and quality of its agri-food sector and to offer the companies of our production chain the opportunity to establish themselves on foreign markets and promote the diffusion of their products, fully accepting a challenge that also and above all passes through the innovation of production processes and the enhancement of typicality” said Paolo Orneli, Regional Minister for Economic Development, Trade and Crafts, University, Research, Start-Up and Innovation of Lazio.
For Enrica Onorati, Regional Minister for Agriculture, Forestry, Promotion of the Food Chain and Culture and Equal Opportunities of Lazio, “the internationalisation of our companies and the opening up of new markets, such as that of the UAE, is fundamental in the promotion and development of the network of a Made in Lazio model that maps out its future. Sustainability, innovation, food culture and wellbeing are issues that need to be addressed and Expo Dubai is the ideal occasion to do so and to showcase our excellence”.
As indicated in the CREA 2021 report, crops in Lazio occupy 44% of the regional territory (42% the Italian average) and represent 6% of national agricultural crops and 36.9% of those in Central Italy. Among the types of cultivation, permanent fodder crops and pastures prevail (40%), temporary fodder crops (25%), cereals and olive trees (11%), open-air vegetables (3%), vineyards (3%) and nuts (3%). Lazio is also in fifth place among the most representative regions for typical products, with 29 food products (9.6% of the total national basket) and 36 wines (6.9% of the national total) that have obtained the PDO, PGI or TSG. Of the 29 products, 16 are PDO, 11 PGI and 2 TSG. The high vocation of the territory towards these food excellences confirms how Lazio is continuing to consolidate and qualify its agri-food production to the maximum.
The agri-food sector is one of Lazio’s sectors of excellence, with the Regional Active Area in Bracciano, managed by Lazio Innova, the innovation hub dedicated to entrepreneurial projects and start-ups active in the agri-food and forestry systems supply chain, with incubation laboratories dedicated to “go-to-market start-ups” in the agri-food sector. An example of experimentation with new production models and a good practice for rationalising the range of services on offer in favour of economic competitiveness and active participation by citizens.
