MFA Communication initiatives on Coronavirus.
The plan aims at promoting, with the full involvement of the Italian diplomatic and consular network, correct, timely and widespread information on the response the Italian Government is giving to the epidemiological emergency from COVID-19 and on the actual size of the epidemic in our country, that remains significantly limited to some areas within a few regions. This campaign sees the Ministry of Foreign Affairs committed, within the scope of its competences, to counter the spread of misleading and inaccurate messages and information that could influence the decisions of the health authorities of our partners concerning the travel and work programmes of their citizens in areas only marginally and indirectly affected by the contagion with a minimal and isolated number of infections, and in this way to reduce the impact that such choices could have on the economic prospects of our country.
The plan has so far taken the form of the following actions, to which others could be added in the coming days:
– Sending reports to the network of Italian Embassies and Consulates around the world by the Crisis Unit, together with an updated info-graphics, with the request to highlight the timely response given by the Italian Government to the epidemiological emergency by COVID-19 to the accreditation authorities and the local press, as well as to ensure correct information on the scale of the phenomenon.
– Disseminating press releases (the first of which can be found on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs site https://www.esteri.it/mae/it/sala_stampa/archivionotizie/approfondimenti/farnesina-al-lavoro-per-una-corretta-informazione-all-estero.html), aimed at informing the main national media about the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ commitment to defend the correctness of information on the epidemic in Italy. The Minister himself has also given a number of interviews that are available at the same link.
– Sharing in the social profiles of the network (Embassies and Consulates) of timely and updated information on the epidemiological situation in our country;
– Updating by the Crisis Unit (http://www.viaggiaresicuri.it/ of the information available to all travellers on any restrictions placed on travellers from Italy who at this time intend to travel to other countries in the world;
– The personal commitment of Minister Di Maio in a constant dialogue with neighbouring countries to develop harmonised protocols and shared lines of action at European level regarding controls on people entering their respective countries;
– A series of meetings with the Ambassadors of Latin American and non-EU European countries at the Crisis Unit. EU Ambassadors had a meeting with Minister Amendola. The meeting with the Asian Ambassadors will be held today at the Crisis Unit;
– The organisation of a first meeting together with Minister Speranza with the foreign press accredited in Italy;
– On March3rd, the Minister holds a meeting to present the “extraordinary 2020 plan for the promotion of Made in Italy and the attraction of foreign investments”. The meeting will also provide the opportunity to listen to the requests and needs of the private sector to design together concrete measures to support the Italian exporting companies. Among many others, the meeting will see the participation of the institutional and private actors involved in supporting the internationalisation of companies, such as the Ministers of Economics and Finance, Innovation, Infrastructures, Tourism, Economic Development, Agriculture, University and Research. Other institutional actors such as the ICE (Italian Trade and Investment Agency), the CDP-Sace-Simest Pole and, of course, the leading trade associations (Confindustria, ABI, Alleanza Cooperative) and associations in the agri-food sector, the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces as well as the AEFI (Association of Italian Exhibitions and Fairs), will also participate to this meeting.
The communication campaign, continuously evolving, is flanked by the constant assistance to fellow Italian citizens abroad, which in recent weeks has also resulted – as it is well known – in the decision to carry out repatriations by ad hoc military flights from the areas most affected by the epidemic.
