Italy’s economy subject of International Speaker Series

Pier Forlano, the consul general of Italy in Philadelphia, will discuss “The Fundamentals and Excellence of the Italian Economy” at 3 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 24, in the Popp-Martin Student Union Movie Theater.

A veteran diplomat with 30 years of professional service, Forlano has held appointments in four embassies: Bulgaria, Malta, South Africa and Australia. He has attended several highly specialized professional training courses at the International University College in Turin and at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation in Rome. During his career, Forlano has been responsible for the administration of human resources, structural management organization and the coordination of various events and diplomatic representations.

Prior to his current role, Forlano was chief officer for 27 Sahel countries, the region of the Great Lakes and Central Africa, and subsequently appointed as the official responsible for issues related to the entire Sub-Saharan Africa and regional organizations.

From 2008- 12, he served at the Embassy of Italy in Canberra as deputy counselor, where he was in charge of consular affairs. In 2009, he organized a seminar entitled “Italians Down Under” covering a wide variety of topics including language, Italian-Australian identity, the image of Italy in Australia and elder citizens, to name a few.

Faculty are encouraged to reserve space to attend with their classes and/or arrange for an extra-credit sign-in sheet for students; email globaleducation@uncc.edu. Individual RSVPs are requested.

The Office of International Programs, the World Affairs Council of Charlotte, Atkins Library, the Department of Global Studies, Department of Languages and Culture Studies and the UNC Charlotte Italian Club are co-sponsors of this International Speaker Series event.