Not only fashion, manufacturing and creativity: Italy coming to New York with The Perfect Pitch also wants to show its ability to develop technologies, transform ideas into enterprises and face the challenges of the future. The three startups protagonists of the new edition, dedicated to fashion tech, are confronted with a market that can offer opportunities for growth, contacts and investments.
For Giuseppe Pastorelli, Consul Generale d’Italia in New York, accompanying this path means putting the network of institutions at the service of enterprises and enhancing the Italian entrepreneurial talent. In the interview with New Yorker, Pastorelli explains why the collaboration between public and private is central to growth diplomacy and what message The Perfect Pitch can leave in the United States and young entrepreneurs in Italy.
What does it mean for the Consulate General of Italy in New York to bridge the three startups of fashion tech protagonists of The Perfect Pitch?
It is an important task for more reasons. The Consulate is at the service of citizens and businesses: to help a company get to know the American market, to test its product and, potentially, to find investors is fully part of our mission. There is also an equally significant aspect: cultivating talent means contributing to the growth of the country. The three companies are born from ideas that have not remained on paper, but have become activities capable of generating useful and employment. Italy looks to the future through the innovation and strength of its entrepreneurs. We do not have great wealth in raw materials: our resource is the ability to transform, with creativity and talent, what we have.
How important is the collaboration between diplomacy and industrial system to bring Italian innovation to international markets?
Minister Antonio Tajani has given strong impetus to the diplomacy of growth, which involves the Italian diplomatic network abroad in support of enterprises. It is an action developed in collaboration with realities such as ICE, SACE, SIMEST, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti e Confindustria. The constant dialogue between the public and private sector, with the common goal of supporting Italian companies, is one of the strengths of this approach.
Made in Italy is best known for elegance, manufacturing and luxury. How important is it to tell Americans about technology and innovation?
Italy is appreciated abroad for the beauty of its territories and for the products of Made in Italy. The challenge is also to introduce its technological innovation capacity, dedication to work, attention to detail and attitude to look forward. Making business in Italy means turning and continuing to innovate: it is a characteristic that has long belonged to our productive culture. Italian history offers examples ranging from spatial activities to pharmaceuticals, from robotics to supercomputers. This is also the image of the country we must tell: an Italy capable not only of enhancing its heritage, but of looking to the future with conviction.
Beyond who will win The Perfect Pitch, what inheritance can you leave this initiative and what message does it address to young Italian entrepreneurs?
This experience transmits two messages first. The first is that the institutions, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Confindustria, are at the side of the enterprises and are able to work together for a shared objective. Those who do business in Italy must not limit their horizon to the national market: they can look with confidence abroad, also thanks to public support. The second message concerns Italian talent and its ability to deal with concrete problems. startups show how innovation can help reduce the environmental impact of fashion and make it closer to customers’ needs. Bringing these ideas to New York leaves a mark. During the initiative, the vice president of the board of Manhattan recalled that Italy is the country where fashion was born, while New York is the city that buys it. Being here means showing what we can do.
L’articolo <i>The Perfect Pitch</i>, from New York a new image of Italy: the talent that becomes business comes from IlNewyorkese.
