ITALY

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ITALIAN TRADE AGENCY- CHICAGO

The   Italian Trade Agency is the government organization which   promotes the internationalization of the Italian companies in line with the   strategies of the Ministry for Economic Development. The ITA provides information, support and advice to Italian and   foreign companies. In addition to its Rome headquarters the ITA operates   worldwide from a large network of Trade Promotion Offices linked to Italian   embassies and consulates and working closely with local authorities and   businesses.

The ITA provides a wide range of   services overseas helping Italian and foreign businesses to connect with each   other:

· identification of possible business partners   

· bilateral trade meetings with Italian   companies

· trade delegation visits to Italy 

· official participation in local fairs and   exhibition forums 

· seminars with Italian experts

The ITA Chicago office specializes in machinery, major food retailers   and publishing, among other sectors. 

More information on the Italian Trade Agency activities in the   US is available at www.italtrade.com/usa

OFFICE JURISDICTION

MIDWEST, USA - (16 states)

Marco Saladini possesses over 20 years of experience in various   fields such as journalism, international aid and relations, trade promotion,   economic sector analysis, policy analysis, statistical databases, support to   Sme overseas, trust funds setup and monitoring and private sector   development. 

More in detail, he holds a   degree in Political Sciences, International Affairs concentration, from   "La Sapienza" in Rome, Italy, and an Emerging Markets Certificate   from Johns Hopkins' School of Advanced International Studies in Washington,   DC, USA. He has been a member of the Italian Journalists' Guild since 1992   and has worked as a consultant and a newswriter for several years up to the   early 1990s. 

After being hired by the   Italian Trade Commission in 1992 he served in the Economic Research Office   for eight years, taking care of developing new sources of data, writing long   and short essays about foreign trade and catering to Senior Management's   information and document drafting requests. 

In 2000 he was relocated to the   Executive Director's Office for Italy and other countries at the World Bank   Group, where he monitored Italian Trust Funds, took active part in the work   of the Board of Directors and assisted Italian companies wanting to enhance   their participation in business opportunities revolving around the WBG. 

In 2006 he was appointed ICE's   Chief Representative for Vietnam, where he managed a 12-18 staff   members-strong Office, dealing with multiple promotional and training   programs and assistance requests. He actively contributed to setting up   several special programs, including a high-level mission with up to 260   participants and 1,700 company-to-company meetings booked, an intellectual   property rights violations help-desk, an information and best practices   dissemination help-desk about infrastructure development and a help-desk to   facilitate Italian investments in Vietnam. 

Upon his relocation to Rome he   served as Senior Officer at the Promotion Department and subsequently at the   Strategic Planning and Management Control Office, where he contributed to   several publications and outreach activities and, for a year and a half, took   care of promoting Italian start-up companies overseas. 

Since August 2017 he is serving   in Chicago as the Director of the local Office of the Itlaian Trade   Commission, overseeing the work of about 15 staff members on campaigns with   food retailers, machinery and publications promotion and customized support   services mostly geared to Italian companies willing to expand their   commercial relations and/or presence in the United States of America. 

Marco is married to Tamara L.   Mihalap; they have two children. He likes mountaineering, reading, listening   to contemporary music, making new friends, cooking and traveling. 

CONTACTS

MARCO SALADINI  – TRADE COMMISSIONER OF ITALY IN CHICAGO

m.saladini@ice.it   

chicago@ice.it   

312-670-4360

GABRIELE        BARONE  – DEPUTY TRADE COMMISSIONER OF ITALY IN CHICAGO

g.barone@ice.it 

chicago@ice.it 

312-670-4360