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Recognizing and honoring Consul General of Italy, Andrea Canepari, for his many accomplishments on behalf of Italy in the City of Philadelphia and his commitment to the relationship between Italy and the United States, on the occasion of his appointment as Italy’s Ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
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WHEREAS, Andrea Canepari has been the Consul General of Italy in Philadelphia since August 26, 2013. As the Consul General, Canepari was tasked with building new contacts between Italians and Italian-Americans as well as proving the post useful in addressing Italy’s slow economic growth; and
WHEREAS, Throughout his time in the City of Philadelphia, Canepari has been instrumental in the establishment of organizations empowering the Italian-American community. Through his leadership he promoted and organized Ciao Philadelphia, an Italian cultural month, aimed to raise awareness about possibilities of international cooperation with Philadelphia, together with Independence National Park, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Thomas Jefferson University, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Temple, Drexel, and all of the major cultural institutions in the region; Il Convivio, a group of academics that helped add Italian classes to Philadelphia schools, such as Meredith Elementary and St. Monica, as he believes that the Italian language is an educational tool for the kids of the region and brings international opportunities; and a CEO business leaders’ council linking colleges and corporations in both countries; and
WHEREAS, Canepari believed that Philadelphia’s region could benefit even more from international cooperation and international activities. Therefore, he actively promoted international exchanges and raised Philadelphia’s public attention on that specific goal. He was able to bring Philadelphia into the Italian media, where the most important Italian newspaper, described him as “a diplomat that Italy should take as an example”. He promoted international dialogues in Philadelphia on important topics, such as Holocaust Remembrance which was celebrated with a series of events in January 2017; and
WHEREAS, Canepari was also a key part in establishing the relationship between Fedegari Technologies, the Italy-based medical-sterilizer maker, and Rowan University when it picked Rowan’s tech park as its new lab for development testing. He also helped in establishing a master’s program in “bioinnovation” at Temple University’s Sbarro Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Medicine alongside three Italian companies. Many business and university leaders in the City of Philadelphia have called him the “Match.com” to companies in Italy; and
WHEREAS, Upon graduating from the University of Milan with a degree in Economics in 1996 and from the University of Parma Law School in 1998, he completed a Master of Law at the University of Pennsylvania on a full-merit scholarship awarded each year to only one Italian lawyer for academic excellence by the Italian Bankers Association; and
WHEREAS, He joined the Italian Foreign Service in 1999 and was posted at the Embassy of Italy in Turkey as the Head of the Consular Chancery and the Head of the Economic and Trade Office from 2002 to 2006. From 2006 to 2010, he was posted at the Embassy of Italy as First Secretary for American Politics and Relationships. He then returned to Rome as a Counselor and Diplomatic Adviser to the State Minister of the Italian Presidency for the Council of Ministers; and
WHEREAS, Canepari has several decorations at the international level including: Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic, Knight of Magesterial Grace, and the Order of Malta; and here in Philadelphia when he received the 2016 biannual “Temple Global Award”; and
WHEREAS, Counsel General Canepari is a native of Pavia, Italy, and a proud husband and father of two children; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, THAT THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Hereby recognizes and honors Counsel General Andrea Canepari for his many accomplishments on behalf of Italy in the City of Philadelphia and his commitment to the relationship between Italy and the United States. We thank him for his service to the City of Philadelphia and wish him well in his new post as Italy’s Ambassador to the Dominican Republic.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Counsel General Andrea Canepari, further evidencing the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.
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