ASTANA - "Culture, business, sustainability": these are the guidelines of the mission that the Italian ambassador to Kazakhstan, Marco Alberti, accompanied by Emilio Sessa, head of the Embassy's Economic Office, carried out on the 25th and the 26th October in the Turkestan Region, one of the most dynamic in the country, with considerable potential in the tourism and cultural sectors.
The subject of the meeting with the new governor of the region, Darkhan Satybaldy, was some Italian industrial initiatives, including the 50MW solar plant project in Shaulder, developed by Arm Wind, an Eni subsidiary active in the renewable energy sector. Also on the agenda of the talks is the strengthening of collaboration on the enhancement of archaeological and monumental sites, including the ancient cities of Otrar and Sauran. Together with the ambassador, also Dr. Benotto and Menegazzi, respectively of the Turin Museums Foundation and the Turin Archaeological Research and Excavations Center, who signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Regional Directorate for Museums and Monuments "Azirret Sultan" on the training of personnel assigned to the cultural sector. First act of a series of initiatives that could be developed by the new Italian Cultural Institute in Almaty, which is about to open.
Ambassador Alberti also spoke at the "International Conference on sacred heritage, pilgrimage and sustainable tourism", organized by the Turkestan Region in collaboration with UNESCO, which was attended, in addition to 500 guests, also by the representative of the Presidency of the Republic, that of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Governor of the Region and the UNESCO regional manager.
In his speech, Alberti recalled the importance of the Italian contribution in the sustainable enhancement of the cultural heritage and consolidated expertise of our country. Dwelling on the candidacy of Rome Expo 2030, the ambassador underlined the strengths, indicating how it is based on a new person-territory relationship, centered on the regeneration of space and the enhancement of tradition in an innovative key.
“Multi-stakeholder actions, such as those we wish to carry out in Turkestan, require time and patience,” said Alberti, “but they are the right way to optimize everyone's resources. After the success of the project carried out by Eni-Arm Wind and UNDP, thanks to which an entire school in Turkestan can now rely on solar energy, we are developing others, offering the country an integrated idea of Italy, which presents itself with the its Embassy, but also with prestigious companies and high profile cultural institutions interested in Kazakhstan ”.
Among the meetings on the agenda is also the one with Aidos Sakenov, rector of the International University of Tourism and Hospitality of Turkistan. The latter, in thanking the Embassy for the support for the teaching course of the Italian language activated with public funds at his university, expressed keen interest in exploring inter-university exchange projects with Italian universities in the field of tourism management and of natural resources.
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