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Giovanni Castellaneta

The destiny of the United States holds no surprises in its return to growth. The impasse of technical default has been avoided, GDP is once again on the road to recovery and employment levels are starting to rise: all, undoubtedly, the result of an expansionary monetary policy, and above all, of resilience and a capacity to react to the challenges of today that has always set this great nation apart. Current trends show this very clearly. While new countries compete on the global scenario, the supremacy of the United States remains an inescapable calling. Barack Obama is learning to defend the country with increasing force, indeed not even he, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and icon of egalitarianism, can remove himself from what I jokingly referred to as “the echo of Jefferson”: on the one side, finding himself in the role of spokesman, conveying the ideals handed down by the founding fathers; and on the other, playing protector of the US economic power and global policy. They are, after all, two faces of the same coin, which continues to shine brightly over the years. In my years as Ambassador to Washington, I managed to experience the force of this constantly changing society first-hand, which offers so many possibilities to whomever is prepared to put themselves to the test. The bond with Italy is a strong one: a historical relationship, enriched by a shared culture of being open to markets and geared to innovation, technological development and competitiveness. The excellence of Italian-made goods continues to expand in this market in which, according to SACE’s research findings, our products will grow at an average annual rate of 8.9% in the four-year period 2014-2017. The emerging economies are the markets of our future. They offer opportunities for internationalised businesses to offset the effects of the crisis suffered by traditional reference markets. But their growth margins are being scaled down. Factors such as increased productivity and demographic dividends, which have contributed to reaching average GDP growth rates of more than 5% in the last decade, are inevitably beginning to run out of steam. In light of the complexity of the operational contexts of these markets asserted only very recently, we need to know how to make the most of our historical partners. And this is where the United States comes in: the certainty of fertile ground for businesses wishing to complete globally.

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Giovanni Castellaneta has held numerous positions including that of Italian Ambassador to Washington (where he was also Permanent Observer at the Organisation of American States), Teheran and Canberra, Foreign Policy Advisor of the Prime Minister and his personal representative (SHERPA) for the G8 summits, Foreign Policy Advisor to the Treasury Minister, Spokesman of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Permanent Representative of Italy to the International Organisations in Geneva. He was also Head of the Office for International Activities of the Italian Regions and Coordinator of the Reconstruction Programme in Albania. Mr Castellaneta served as Vice Chairman of the Finmeccanica Group and he has held the position of Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Lazio Region for Innovative Technologies and Advanced Research.

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