Background: Genoa is a vibrant city with a harbour on the Mediterranean sea and a rich historical significance in the world of finance. The Bank of Saint George (Banco di San Giorgio) was founded in Genoa in 1407 and is considered the world's first public modern bank. In the same year the first insurance company in the world, known as the "Casa di San Giorgio”, was established. Genoa and England share St George's Flag, symbolising a rich shared history between the two.

Today Genoa is an important economic hub in Italy with a diverse range of industries including shipping, manufacturing, finance, and tourism. With a €7.5 Billion investment planned in infrastructure, including the new “waterfront” reimagined by the Genoese international architect Renzo Piano, transport networks, port logistics, shipping, and urban development, Genoa is able to attract business and contribute to economic growth, creating investment opportunities. Creating a Greater City Area consisting of Genoa, Milan, and Turin could potentially have a significant economic impact and contribute to the second largest GDP of the Eurozone, with a target to be the largest in the future.

This webinar is part of our "Focus On" series, where we look at financial centres from around the world.

Speakers:

Francesca Centurione Scotto Boschieri is a Professor in Italian Literature, historian, and journalist for the national newspaper Il Giornale. She has written several publications and books in history and history of art: “Italiani a Londra” (Maria Pacini Fazzi editore 2012), “A tea with Batoni” (MPF editore 2008), “Inglesi in Liguria: Castelli, ville, giardini, storie” (Sagep 2023). She is President of the Amici dei Giardini botanici Hanbury, one of the few Anglo-italian associations, Vice-President of the St. George’s Club, a club she founded for encouraging friendship between Genoa and London, with mutual and reciprocal understanding. Recently the club was pivotal in signing a memorandum of intent between city of Genoa and city of London on Shipping, Community, and Education. In 2018 Genoa's Mayor Marco Bucci honoured her with the title of honorary Ambassador of Genoa to the world, and appointed her as the coordinator of the UK group.

Luca Beltramino is Chief Datacenter Officer at Rai Way, an Italian network infrastructure provider. He is responsible for the implementation of 18 Edge Data Centres and a Hyperscale Data Centre in Rome. Luca is also President and Co-Founder of Ge-DIX, Genoa Data Internet Exchange and Vice President and Co-Founder of IDA Italian Datacenter Association. He was previously Senior Vice President at the Global of Uptime Institute, Managing Director of SUPERNAP/Stack, Managing Director of TelecityGroup Italia, Managing Director of Equinix Italia, Managing Director of Interxion/DLR Italia. Luca co-founded the OPEN HUB MED and has held and holds Non-executive Director roles in the Cloud, High Tech and Data Center sectors. He is Ambassador of the city of Genoa in the world and member of the Board of Ambassadors.