ITALY AT WORK

*1Focusigit,,.‘$1;aOne needs only to seethemulti-faceted nature of the Italian resur­resurgencetoapprectate appreciate it accomplishments.EngineeringIn 1965, I965, the Egyptian governmentgovemmentasked the world to saveapreciousa pieceofits antiquity threatened by the newlycompletecomptetedAswan Dam.At risk werethe giant seated statues ofRamses II atAbu Simbal along the Nile River. Ital­Ital~ian engineers of the Condotte Companywere called in to handle the doublechal­challenge:to figure a way to deljcately delicately relo­relocatea 3,000 year old treasure and to doit before the Aswan Dam inundated iL it.Working day and night, the Italian­Italian-newlyledIed workforce cut the huge monumentinto more than a thousand 25-ton blocksand reasssembled it on safer ground 230feet above. What the tourist sees todayin the relocated AbuSimbal Sirnbal isengineer­engineeringonly slightly less amazing IJ>~" tl\'"\Ramses• Ramses‘ original handiwork.In all,Condoue Condotte saved 95 temples and shrines~ from the dam's ‘s waters.But building dams and water-relatedprojects are also among the many tasksJtaJjan Italian engineers are famous for.Whether its the huge Rio Hondo I-Iondo Dam inArgentina or others in Turkey or centralULah, Utah. or an underground aqueduct inCalifornia, Califomia, Italian companies are bid­biddinganti and winning conlracts corttracts around atuutttl theworld. In 1986, I986, Italians garnered gamercd 10%~ ofall theinternationally intemationally bid engineeringcontracts.New subway lines in Toronto, super­superhighwaysin Spain and Pakjstan, Pakistan, theMelbourne subway, the subway cars ofthe Washington. Washington, D.C., Metro,Cleveland's rail cars, a roadroad in theCameroon, oil refmeries refineries throughoutNorth Africa, and the Middle East, shoefactories in Russia are all the work ofItalian engineering. In this Iauer latter project6,500 truckloads of building and maintenanctcnancematerial made the trek fromItaly toinncrRussia. inner Nothing was left lcft tothe whim of the notoriously main-inadequateRussian supply system, even light bulbswere shipped in.Recent press was given to OccidentalPetroleum Chainnan Chairman Armand Hammerwhenhecloseda a major gasandand oil explo­explorationcontract cotttzract with the U.S.S.R..R.Hammer's "silent" partners in this $6billion dealareare two Italian companies­—ENI and Montedison. ln In Red China, anItalian finn firm beat out Japan's Mitsubishiand a French competitor to win a contractto buildamajora power generating station.FashionSome 40% of Italy's exports aroundthe world are fashion related.ItalianNASA's Tethered S2teffite Satellite conceptshoes, silk, fabric, outerwear, lingerie,and accessoriesareare known and sought theworld over. Names like Gianni Versace,‘t .Gior­I v 'Benetton, Emilio Pucci, Valentino, GiorgioArmani,and and Fendi have thrust Italianfashion so farout in frontthattheprimacythattheprimacy I I _ ".;;,',§,of Paris is of another day.la-WOne-third of the world's silk is pro­pro-'..--‘*1’ ~-'-1;-1’ .E»?‘\\*= ~ 'duced in Italy, a reminder that whatever whatevm‘ 1..\F ' . .___the Italians learned from the Orient cen­centuriesago has not been lost nor wasted... ".r>.-"‘- - -3-é. it‘kg .2 ,_‘3‘+-I32‘! .'£'‘I “‘E=$:§e' - I-“’.4‘3‘. .. .The descendents descendants of Marco Polo are returnintumingto the not-so-mysterious Eastwith an array of fashion goods aimed at avast new market.The Japanese espe­especiallyhave an eye for the Latin style.Armani has increased his business inJapan by 33% in one year.DesignerEnrico Coveri has recently signed anagreement with the Itoh Group that maytranslate into 100 I00 million dollars' dollars‘ worthof sales, more than doubling Coveri's C0veri'sRelocating history: Egypt's Egypt‘: Abu1987 worldwide busi-busi~Slmbel Slrnbclness. Gilmar, an outer­outerwearfum firm based nearre-Forli', Forli‘, has concludedan accord with Toyotafor distribution of itstrousers, jackets,andknitwear.No market is beingoverlooked by the mer­merchantsof fashion. Over(continued on page 23) 73}Al\>lX, AMX, Italian combat aircraft';;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;F:;;a~n~ ~ 8 ~ Fall 1988-8 The Italic Way;;;;;;;;;==========;;;;;;;;;======== The Italic Way--~131 3