Ep 2408 Antonello De Riu, Ambassador of Italy to the Republic of Kazakhstan | On the Road with Stevie Kim

What we have in my opinion to work with is the brand awareness in order to establish and consolidate our leadership because we cannot we cannot sleep on our on our feet and waiting for, something better. What we have as a very important, let's say, economic model that we can sell in this market is, the storytelling. And we need, more consolidated strategy to increase the awareness, of our wines, because our wines are so diversified. Welcome to another episode of on the road edition, hosted by Stevie Campbell. Each week, Stevie travels to incredible wine destinations interviewing some of the Italian wine scene's most interesting personalities, talking about wines, the foods, as well as the incredible travel destinations. Hello. My name's Stevie Kim, and welcome to the Italian Line podcast. This is our second special edition of Vineetli, Kazakhstan. Yes. Second, New York, we are back in ALmaty. And today with us, we have Ambassador Antonello Duroux. Ciao. Hello. Welcome. Hello, everybody. How do you say welcome in Kazakh? Do you know? No. No. It's it's don't ask me. He's just started here. So we're going to give him yeah. Just cut him some slack. So first of all, I looked you up in LinkedIn. I haven't seen you in a very long time since the Hong Kong days. When you were general counsel. Right? So what in your LinkedIn profile, it says, ambassador, extraordinary, and plenty potentiari of Italy. Now What does that mean exactly? And the ambassador, again, today. That is a normal, international relations, denominations, like wines, we as ambassador have this title when it is a full range ambassador because it can be also something related that we are restricted the mandate that we can have in some countries. Of course, it's not the case of a Kazakhstan. Them. Okay. But there is a difference between Ambassador and the Ambassador extraordinary plenipotentiary. I mean, it has a very long title. Yes. No. This is just to tell that you are a full I'm in one country. And, because sometimes you can be, it depends on the grade of the relations that you can have with the discount. Tree. Of course. Relations are excellent with the Kazakhstan. So I'm, this very full name, but a very well, ambassador. Yes. You've started here just in April. Yes. Right? The middle of it. Right. Middle of April. And prior to that, you were in Kosovo. Yeah. So what lessons have your time in Christina have you carried to your work here? Our job is, of course, always to move, to one country, and to one continent, and a different, a completely different culture. I have to say that both Kosovo and Kazakhstan from this point of view, I feel lucky were, my choice. Then, of course, they accepted and they give me this poster, but, of course, in the Balkans, there is a stronger presence of Italy. Historically speaking, But I can say also that even here in Central Asia, I found some, especially a perception of Italy that honestly surprised me because we don't have a long history of presence in this area. Of the world. Instead, I find that a natural attraction of, Kazakhstan people, young people towards Italy. And this is witnessed also by the huge amount of visa that every year our embassy delivers over thirty thousand. So something a little bit personal, you know? So what initially drew you to a career in diplomacy? How did I start? You know, my father was a manager of a infrastructure company, and, I was used since my childhood, the early childhood, to move every two, three years in different parts of Italy, north, south, and, Central Italy, and then even abroad. Then I settled, when I was sixteen in Roma, and after my university degree, I decided to embark in the public examination to enter the diplomatic career because I wanted to repeat, the life that I managed when I was a child, together with my father. Mhmm. So now transitioning to Kazakhstan from Kosovo. Right? What have been your first priorities? In Astana. I know you are quite busy, actually. Right? You had you are super busy. You had the prime minister, and there I know there has been like different agreements with Italy and Kazakhstan. What is your priority now? Of course, this is and remains a very important, diplomatic post, a very important country for economic relations, because interest of Italian companies are wide diversified, whether still concentrated more in the energy sector. However, my intention is also to focus a lot in what we call soft power. Mhmm. Because Italians of power have, as a power of attraction, especially towards young generations, that here in Kazakhstan could make the difference, not only for cultural purposes, music, art, and, of course, even food and wine. But this is a general reflection also on the economic interest because once you create sense of Italy as a general part of the life, of, the people here automatically, you deliver interest, our presence, and then also our economic presence in this country. And here, there is a huge potential. Well, I recall the ambassador. Of course. And he had told me that actually majority of the population is under twenty five. It's it's I don't think there's anything likely similar in the world. Right? I think it is one of the youngest nations, together with India, in the world. And that this is, a huge potential. You see that in twenty, twenty five years, the forecast for, the population grew. They talk about, a double of the population. That means that, actually, it is twenty, twenty two million people could be around fifty million in less than one generation. That's crazy. And this is a a huge boost to all the economy because you can imagine. First of all, also in the real estate, because, the people are making, families, and now they are not. They are following the same path we follow it in our societies. Now, they are splitting. There are mononuclear families, family is quite numerous because it's between three and four Mhmm. Kids for each family. They need a house, they need their car, and then they have a new taste. They are more exposed to the international trends. They broke up this, isolation that this country historically had, especially during the Soviet Union, and so they can be influenced. And they get the influence from external fact from other countries. And, of course, we have to be here. We have to position better in every sector, wine included. Yeah. So getting back to wine, Central Asia, When we think of Central Asia, of course, we think of Kazakhstan as one of the countries. It's increasingly seen as a bridge between Europe and Asia in in certain way. How can Italian wine producers position themselves to benefit the strategic location. You mentioned the rate, and I I cannot agree. There are two factors, geographical, and this is structural. And then the actual trend, especially of international relations. So from one side, the geography, as you mentioned, is a bridge between, and this is historically. This is the history of this, area of the world, bridge between the eastern part of the planet and the western part of the euro Asian continent. But moreover, there has been in the last years, some, geopolitical shifts that, made the displays much more valuable to, find a new international route for trade, for international trade. And, that's why the importance of these countries in the last decade grew dramatically. And this is the way through which we can establish a better presence, in this area because we talk about the region. So let's dive into a bit about an Italian wine because as you know, all we care about is Italian wine. But we are only vertical. We only want to understand Italian wine. So in your short or so far. You've only been here for a few months, but what is your impression with regards to the impression of Italian wine in Kazakhstan? It's growing, the importance of the Italian wine and also the awareness first of all, it's not my opinion. It is data. We are the biggest important country of foreign wine because even here they have a small production of wine. And, More than more than France and Spain and more than France and Spain. More than France and Spain. This is, an exception because, as you mentioned before, when I was in a in another post, in Hong Kong, it was reference to different. Yes. Completely different story. Completely different. What we have in my opinion to work with is the brand awareness in order to establish and consolidate our leadership because we cannot we cannot sleep on our on our feet and waiting for, something better. And, the brand awareness because French wine, where it is perceived, always, for a matter of sophistication, and so prestige. Then the Spanish wines are more popular for their ratio between equality and especially the coast because it's cheaper, and that this can attract. But what we have, has a very important, let's say, economic model that we can sell in this market is, the storytelling. And we need, more consolidated strategy to increase the awareness of our wines because our wines are so diversified. I mean, in terms of, variety of grapes, we are, we are the first in the world. And this is there are over one thousand varieties. And this is very difficult to explain to country where, until twenty two decades ago, the only alcoholic beverage was beer and vodka. So this is something that we have we have to work on. But we are not trying to recover the time because we are the leader. Our worry has to be to consolidate and to strengthen our position of leadership. Okay. So then as the embassy, how can How can you be an assistant support for the Italian wine producers who want to explore and this market opportunities in Kazakhstan and specifically in two main cities. Right? Asana, and Omati. These are the biggest, in promoting center, even because here there is a consolidated presence, also for all the Hureka sector hotels, restaurants, restaurants, refined restaurants, sophisticated answer. And so it is easier to sell quality products like Italian wine. And this is important. But what we can do and what we do, first of all, we try to give our support to initiatives like the one over in Italy. And we really appreciate that. Of course. This is, and this is, a matter of fact, and it has to be like this. And moreover, we have also our own and so supporting the institutions that, promote Italian wine abroad, like in Italy, at the same time, implementing, on our in house activities, promotional activities, Just I mentioned that the Italian cuisine week, the Italian cuisine week, in every country where I've been had a mission, and it will be, of course, you were in Rome. Right? You were in charge of that. Even even when I was in Rome, I was the coordinator, global coordinator of the Italian cuisine week. And the, fundamental part of the Italian cuisine week is the promotion of our wines. So this is something that we are going to continue. Then pairing with, how can you say it? Trying to establish on our own, also relations with, distributors, importers, Horeca professionals, and at the same time, in a country where, social media, everywhere, working also with, influencers and bloggers. Because, in a very young country, as you mentioned before, Like as Akan, social media is more important than in others. I know that Marco, the previous ambassador too. First of all, I think Ambassador and yourself, you kind of traded places. I mean, not exact clearly because you're in Kossova, and he went to Albania, which is close. Right? Absolutely. I I paid easy to eat me one day from from Michigan. Yeah. So so it's it's very close. And he was in Kazakhstan, and now you're in Kazakhstan. So you've kinda traded places. Right? So I think the previous ambassador, Alberto, he was really keen and proactive in social media. Are you going to try to keep that up? Or because he was also very proactive himself. Are you very active in social media? Oh, yes. And for the institutional purposes, yes, not for private purposes. Only for this. So what are the channels you use? LinkedIn mostly? LinkedIn, yes. This is the only social media that I manage directly. The others, I coordinate the other social media that here that we use are Instagram Mhmm. And and Facebook. We are considering now to open also a Twitter, whether Twitter is more a It's called X now. Ax. Yes. Yes. It has a mister Muska. But why has the will has called me? I don't want I don't want to start that conversation. Absolutely. We avoid. And, so the the the idea is also to open a a a EX account, but it is addressed more to the international audience because, however, there is a growing international audience in Kazakhstan. Oh, you know, like Expexats? Yes. At the end. We're like in Hong Kong. Very familiar. It's a segment it's a segment of the market, by the way. Right. Right. Why our, public, I mean, in general, to which we address through social media, cannot include, foreigners. There is a growing number of foreigners in this country. So we will open so and its account. So, you know, you were the lead with the Italian cuisine week. So you have a lot of experience with food. How important because okay. This is what I think. For first of all, this is my personal opinion. As I started getting into more food, first of all, Italian wine producers think that wine is the absolute protagonist. But I believe that actually it's food. And wine is a complimentary item to the food. But I found that many of the chefs, especially the super chefs, right? They don't really care about wine. Luckily, there are wine directors and sommeliers. Right? And what is your personal view? So you can say what you think, okay, about this relationship with Italian food and Italian wine? Because I personally believe that also to be successful Italian wine, I've been doing this for some years now. You have to be able to introduce Italian wine with local food, not just with Italian food. So what is your thought on that? I completely agree, the diversity, as I recall before, the variety of, grapes of our production is so huge that you can easily pair with any cuisine in the water. And the kazakh one that is mainly focused, on the consumption of meat, meat, or cheese, and, cow, and, chicken, whatever, it matches perfectly with some of our wines, excellent, combination. And I have to say also that, in, Kazakhstan, there is an interesting trend, also for, especially among a young generation. But in a country that Alfa the Revelation is under twenty six years, and, it's, fundamental. It's also the Bolicine. So the prosseco. Okay. The specseco much more than the champagne is perceived as a a colleague beverage that can be used for important celebrations or important nights, and that's something that we can find also in the UK. Mhmm. Where we discuss. Good friendly, celebratory line. Yes. But at the same time, wine, also the the red wines and also even the white ones are particularly appreciated, and, growingly appreciated. Even kind variety of, wines that, Probably we could not imagine in this country because we can imagine that, Kazakhstan people as newcomers in this kind of, consumption, they will, be attracted by the great, brands, like a chianti, like, amarone, barolo. No. Also primitivo, also, not able to have a increasing repreciate it here. Okay. So bonus question. So you have a red wine in front of you. What do you think it is? Should Yeah. You should You look it. I have to Yeah. Try blind tasting. Blind test. Live point. I don't take any kind of master, right? I should say. But you have so much experience. Okay. The technique, It's panic. Come, component suggests me that is something that should be more tuscany. More tuscany. Okay. So we will find out later because I don't know what wine it is. Yes. Okay. So looking ahead, what would you consider after your end of your tenure? How long is your tenure? Three years? For three to four years. Three or four years. What would you consider a home run achievement at the end of your tenure? I think that, of course, the economic interests are, fundamental because, it's a potential part of international relations. But, I will focus also on something because economic relations depends on contracts. Contracts have, a termination, a deadline. Mhmm. Once they terminate, maybe there is a consolidation of the and then they can disappear. But if you are able to influence, to change, and to enter through what we call the soft the Italian soft power, we will be able to establish permanently in this country, and this will, give a great service also to the economic side because, if you are naturally inclined, you better understand the culture of one country, in this case, Italy here in Pakistan, probably the leadership of the future generation, they will feel more attractive also by economy products of our country. And so I will, focus my activity both part and the economic promotion. Okay. But this depends also, some political, situation and cultural promotion. And the cultural promotion, promotion of, Italian wine and food is fundamental to establish a closer link, a closer bridge with this country. Okay. So one final question. Let's pretend our audience is Kazakh. Okay? You have a golden opportunity to communicate with them. What message would you like to be for your Kazakh potness and can Sumers with regards to the value of Italian Kazakh cooperation and friendship. Here is a very sensible also with the the matter of visa. So I can say that, during my mandate, I will do the best in order to satisfy the growing demand of, of Italy through Visa, that there is a, in, in these countries or closer attention to this, whether there are always, rules to follow. And at the same time, to compromise, to bring more Italy here in this country, more and more Italy in this country through these events, like, in Italy, because, I think that, the wine together with food is, the best tool to create bridges between two different people with two different cultures, and to make them friends forever. Okay. And I think this is a good place to wrap. Thank you very much for joining us. You took Thank you. Because Astana is actually not so close. Yes. I'll be bringing, from Rome to to Paris. So so That's what I want for the meeting. Yes. So thank you for joining us today. And good luck to you. Thanks, sir. I need it. Yeah. I've met all week. Yeah. We've met each other in Hong Kong, and you he has been a unwavering support of Vin Italy in Hong Kong. So, hopefully, we will be seeing you again. Every year after year in these countries. Yes. And that is a wrap. Sounding off. My name is Stevie Kim. Italian wine podcast, Vineetli, Kazakhstan almaty addition with the ambassador extraordinary, plenty potentiari to Italy in Pakistan, Antonelo. Shao. Chinchin. Chin. Cheers. Thank you for joining us on another episode of On the Road Edition, hosted by Stevie Kim. Join her again next week for more interesting content on the Italian wine scene. You can also find us at italian wine podcast dot com or wherever you get your pods. You can check out our YouTube channel, Mama jumbo shrimp, to watch these interviews and the footage captured at each location. Changing.