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President of the Conoscere Eurasia Association Antonio Fallico completed the work of the 16th Eurasian Economic Forum, which was held on November 3 and 4 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan
A thousand participants of the 16th Verona Eurasian Economic Forum from 27 countries, held in Samarkand on November 3-4, 2023, are thanking the city and the authorities of Uzbekistan for the excellent reception. In all these years of striving for business dialogue in Greater Eurasia – the true calling of the Verona Forum – the need for a frank, free, and open space for discussion has rarely been felt more acutely.
Samarkand fully met our expectations. Its history and calling to be a thriving oasis of dialogue, meeting, and intersection between peoples and cultures has once again emerged in all its effectiveness. Samarkand attracts not only with the aesthetic magnetism of its turquoise, but also serves as a space for cooperation at the crossroads between Russia, China, India, the countries of the North Atlantic, and Europe.
At a time in history when many seem to be calling for a clash of civilizations, emphasizing borders and barriers, the current forum in Samarkand pointed to an alternative path, demonstrating the widespread need for pluralism of views and the desire for integration. In this constant search for new solutions and mechanisms, the world of business and trade offers a special diplomacy based on real economic and social needs. This path takes more into account the real needs of peoples striving to build rather than destroy, to find new solutions in a world undergoing profound changes. In a highly unpredictable world.
The strategic partnership between Italy and Uzbekistan, which began with the visit of President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to Rome last June, as well as the visit of Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto to Tashkent, was embodied at the Forum in an entrepreneurial dimension. Cooperation between our countries can truly follow the ancient stages of the Silk Road. We are at the beginning of a common endeavor that has great prospects.
Europe, of which Italy is an important part, must, as reminded us by Romano Prodi, head of the European Commission, once again become the protagonist in innovative cooperation with the Eurasian world in the broadest sense of the word.
At the Forum sessions, in an era of change, many important issues were discussed, providing food for thought in such strategic segments as energy, finance and banking, agricultural development and ecology, digital technologies and logistics. It is from the world of transport that we get an idea of the corridors running along the maps of our world: trade routes, but also routes of dialogue and coexistence, knowledge of the other, mutual enrichment and meetings.
That is why our Forum, which plays a key role in the development of entrepreneurship, again offered an important cultural program this year. It included cinema, music, crafts, and art. Through the power of beauty, song, and dance, a close relationship was created between economic diplomacy and cultural diplomacy.
Next year, the Verona Eurasian Economic Forum will continue the path begun in Baku and continued here in Samarkand. We will once again choose a promising place for multilateral economic cooperation in the vast expanses of Greater Eurasia – from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
