attivita'

29 Novembre 2005 - Verbale riunione

21 Luglio 2005

Dopo undici anni, il Comites ha nuovamente una sede!:

7432 W. Belmont Ave.

Chicago, IL 60634

Le attivita' del Comites verranno pubblicati prossimamente.

17 - 19 Maggio 2005

REPORT
The following Report summarizes the meetings conducted and various activities that occurred during the visit of Consul General Eugenio Sgro to St. Louis on May 17, May 18 and May 19, 2005. The Consul General was accompanied by Angelo Liberati, the President of the COMITES for the Midwest Consular jurisdiction and by the Honorary Vice Consul of Italy in St. Louis.
MEETING WITH ROBERT HEUERMANN, CHAIRMAN OF ST. LOUIS CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND DIRECTOR OF WORLD TRADE CENTER, ST. LOUIS
On Tuesday, May 17, 2005, the Consul General, Mr. Liberati and the Honorary Vice Consul met with Robert Heuermann. Mr. Heuermann is the Chairman of the St. Louis Center for International Relations, which is an agency funded by the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County with responsibility for managing the various sister city relationships between St. Louis and foreign cities that have adopted protocol agreements formalizing sister city relationships. In addition, Mr. Heuermann is the Director of the World Trade Center for St. Louis. The World Trade Center provides assistance for St. Louis area businesses engaged in trade outside the United States. Most of his assistance is related to technical advice regarding shipping issues, exchange rates and other matters directly related to the conduct of business outside the United States. The World Trade Center does not have responsibility for generally promoting trade between St. Louis area based businesses and foreign companies. This responsibility rests with the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Also in attendance at the meeting was Vito Tamboli, President of the Bologna-St. Louis Sister City Committee. Bologna and St. Louis signed an official protocol agreement recognizing each other as sister cities in July of 1987. Much of the discussion at the meeting related to the state of the relationship between Bologna and St. Louis. Mr. Heuermann explained that initially there was a great deal of activity (student exchange trips, visits to each city and related activities) between St. Louis and Bologna, but that in recent years there has been very little interaction involving the two cities. Mr. Heuermann expressed his desire to increase the level of interaction significantly between Bologna and St. Louis in the near future. One idea that Mr. Heuermann raised was extending an invitation to Romano Prodi to discuss international economic and trade issues at a formal forum and program in St. Louis. The Consul General explained that any such invitation would need to be presented through official protocol channels. The Consul General also indicated that Mr. Prodi’s current schedule with respect to the upcoming elections in Italy might make it difficult for him to accept such an invitation in the near future.

Everyone at the meeting agreed that increased interaction between Bologna and St. Louis should be developed. Accordingly, Mr. Heuermann agreed that he and Mr. Tamboli would work on specific proposals for cultural and educational exchange programs, trade visits and other ideas that might facilitate greater activity in this regard. When these ideas are formalized, they will be communicated to the Consul General for his assistance in implementing those that are most appropriate. Specifically, the participants in the meeting discussed the natural connection between Bologna and St. Louis based upon the presence in both cities of large medical schools (in St. Louis there are medical schools both at St. Louis University and at Washington University), and significant interest in other scientific research (including the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and similar research facilities located in St. Louis).