L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, JULY 26, 2018 www.italoamericano.org 18 L'Italo-Americano " The colonization of Cali- fornia began under the S panis h crow n w ith Charles III, who found hims elf K ing of both California and Naples at the same time, a precious historical curiosity to remember the bond between Italy and California, between Naples and California, a bond that goes back in time." With an interesting and little known historical detail, the Ital- ian Consul in Los Angeles Anto- nio Verde opened the celebra- tions for a historic agreement between the port of Naples, Salerno and Castellammare di Stabia and the Port of Los Ange- les. An agreement aiming at implementing the development of activities between the two port centers, officially announced Tuesday, July 10 at the Maritime Museum of San Pedro, the largest maritime museum on the West Coast, opened in 1979 and with a collection that includes a World War II Angel's Gate ST- 695 tugboat and the Ralph J. Scott fireboat. The signing involved the president of the Central Tyrrhen- ian Port Authority, Pietro Spirito, who arrived in Los Angeles for the occasion, and three local authorities: Los Angeles' 15th District councilman, Joe Bus- caino, one of the five harbor commissioners, Anthony Pirozzi, and Antonio Gioiello, deputy executive director of develop- ment at the port of Los Angeles. It is no coincidence that these three local authorities are all of Italian descent: in San Pedro, a district represented by Joe Bus- caino, there is an Italian commu- nity of 45 thousand people, 35 thousand of which are from Ischia and about ten thousand from Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. The Port of Los Angeles, located in San Pedro Bay, employs 517,000 people across Los Angeles County and 1.6 mil- lion worldwide. Containers arriving here account for about 20% of all US traffic, with an estimate of 300 billion freight items every year. And in San Pedro the main goal is to build a new community through the development of the port, the waterfront and their surrounding areas, in addition to a new Italian district, the historic Little Italy, an initiative strongly supported by councilman Buscaino. The agreement signed between Italy and California is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which expresses a con- vergence of will between the two ports, indicating an intended common line of action. "The port of Los Angeles is technological- ly advanced, we want to learn some of the methods developed here, especially those aiming at improving our environmental impact," Pietro Spirito tells us. "The agreement, therefore, involves an exchange of knowl- edge: here in California they are very far ahead when it comes to green technologies, and this is because it has been established that anchored cargoes should only use electric energy. In Naples, on the other hand, we are particularly good in terms of passenger numbers, especially for cruisers." Among the goals, also the creation of a direct link between Naples and Los Ange- les. Vehicles, mechanical parts, wines and jewelry are the main typologies of goods traveling from Italy to LA by sea. "We are looking to establish a direct con- nection with the West Coast of the United States from a com- mercial and touristic point of view," concluded the president of the Harbor System Authority of the Central Tyrrhenian Sea. In coordinating these promo- tional initiatives, in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, ENIT, the Ital- ian Institute of Culture, and with the involvement of the Campania Region, the General Consulate went beyond the signing of the agreement between the Port Authority of the Central Tyrrhenian Sea and the Port of Los Angeles. While the Region of Campania's delegation was visiting California, two impor- tant projects were presented: one regarding the construction of the Museum of the Sea and Emigra- tion in Naples, and one regarding Naples' new ZES (Special Eco- nomic Zone), located within its port. "What better place than this museum in San Pedro, an area of Los Angeles full of Italians, especially from Sicily and Naples, to present this study about the construction of the Ital- ian Museum of Emigration?" Said Pietro Spirito, underlining the support of Naples' National Archaeological Museum to the project. The new Neapolitan Museum of the Sea and Emigration will be at the heart of the city's port, in the area once occupied by the Magazzini Generali, built in the 1940s by architect Marcello Canino. "The museum will come into being in an already impor- tant area and will aim at keeping alive the memory of the past. We'll tell how people used to work in the past, showing for instance how tuna was fished, as opposed to how it's done today, using millions of containers," Spirito concluded. An important contribution will come from the National Archaeological Museum. Its director, Paolo Giulierini, also traveling to Los Angeles, added: "We have many pieces related to the sea, mosaics with fishing scenes, ship wrecks, objects of every shape and material on the history of navigation and we will be happy to make them available for this project. Also, next year we will organize an exhibition, Thalassa, to remember the sea must be considered a bridge between people and not, as it is happening in our times, a place of conflict," underlined Giulieri- ni. The Campania Delegation's three-day trip to California ended at the headquarters of the West Coast Italian-American Chamber of Commerce led by Genny Nevoso, where the third project dedicated to the sea and ports was presented. With the presence of Carlos Valderrama, president of the Center for Global Trade and Foreign Investments of the Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles, and Gianluca Paci, board secretary of IACCW, local entrepreneurs were introduced to the LA's new ZES, the Special Economic Zone established in May, but not completed yet. The project will hopefully serve to attract Californian investments in Italy: the Los Angeles companies that will choose to trade by sea and will reside in an Italian port for at least seven years, will receive tax credits up to 50 mil- lion euros a reduction on produc- tion taxes. "Not only immigration, not only ports: there is also a more strictly artistic and cultural aspect. We have, indeed, also presented a study on art and ports. Ports considered the cen- tral hub of the economy of the many countries facing the sea, a study carried out by the Capodi- monte Museum and the Edith O' Donnel Institute of Art History in Dallas, Texas," consul Verde concluded, referring to the opening of an interdisciplinary center for local PhD and school s tudents .The center w ill be launched in September, at the Museo di Capodimonte, and will be named Center for the Art and Architectural History of Port Cities. SILVIA GIUDICI From the left: Anthony Pirozzi, chairman of the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce, Joe Buscaino, councilman of the 15th district, Pietro Spirito Presidente dell'Autorità di Sistema Portuale del Mar Tirreno centrale, Antonio Verde, Consul Genarl of Italy in LA, Tony Gioiello Chief Harbor Engineer. Art and economy promoted by the ports of Naples and San Pedro LOS ANGELES ITALIAN COMMUNITY

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