ROME -- Giovanni Ottati, CEO of telecommunications company VueTel Italia, is the new President of the Confindustria Assafirca & Mediterraneo -- the Italian industrialists' federation, for the next 2016-17 period, the association said Tuesday.

 The newly-appointed president of this Cofindustria association, for the development of Italian businesses in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, is putting Tunisia at the centre of his development strategy, in order to mature a system of industrial relations in various sectors.

 Giovanni Ottati was elected by the Association’s Private Assembly and will work alongside the presidential team composed of Flavia Ballico (Pert Engineering), Antonio Moncao Salini (Impregilo), Antonio Motanari (Gruppo Martini) and Gennaro Pieralisi (Gruppo Pieralisi).

 In his new role, Ottati would like to focus on a creation, with Tunisia, of a synergic industrial system, integrated on all levels -- from telecommunications to energy, from the agro-food industry to the textile sector.

 “We want to create with Tunisia a real strategic axis in the Mediterranean, especially in light of the five-year Tunisian Development Plan 2016-2020, that has allocated almost 60 billion euros to five big intervention areas -- governance, infrastructure, human development and social inclusion, regional development, green economy and sustainable development. All of this means creating important work and business opportunities for the businesses involved,” said Ottati.

 Giovanni Ottati, aged 53 from Rome, is the founder of VueTel Italia, an international telecommunications, voice and data company that was founded in 2009 and quickly attained a turnover of 106 million euros in 2015, with 22% growth compared to the previous year.

 VueTel’s major markets are Mediterranean and African countries, with a particular focus on North Africa and francophone sub-Saharan Africa.

 He obtained an Economics degree from Rome’s LUISS University and specialized in General Management at Fontainebleau’s INSEAD Business School.

 nkd