On the next picture he is shown with a girl from
an Addis Ababa orphanage.
At the graduation of his girlfriend, Laura Berlingozzi.
At Lake Ohrid with Laura and best friend Gianluigi Viscigli.
Photos: SPASENA BARAMOVA and PROVIDED
SNAPSHOT
The company: Consultative Committee of the Italian Entrepreneurship in Bulgaria (CCIIB)
The manager: Federico Cassi
The job: Head of the relations and communications office
In brief: Cassi came to Bulgaria to take up the position four months ago following his studies in Italy and work in Ethiopia and Macedonia.
The CCIIB is a member of the united desk for the internationalisation of Italian business (Sportello Unico per L’internalizzazione delle Imprese). As such it enjoys the support and co-ordination of the trade section of the Italian embassy in Bulgaria and of the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade-Sofia (ICE-Sofia). The CCIIB is an apolitical, non-profit organisation.
Federico Cassi is a young, energetic, self-driven Italian bursting with ideas. He came to Bulgaria in early 2008 to take over the relations and communications office of the Consultative Committee of the Italian Entrepreneurship in Bulgaria (in Italian, il Comitato Consultivo dell’Imprenditoria Italiana – CCIIB).
Cassi graduated with a degree in international communications from University of Perugia in February 2007. Then he devoted himself to humanitarian activities, working for an Italian NGO called AIAU in Ethiopia for four months that organised international adoptions and co-operated in the development of Ethiopia. He was the organisation’s press officer and also supported various initiatives. The experience was a humbling one. “When you’re in a country like Ethiopia, full of problems, full of poverty... You can’t just stay passive,” he says.
He returned from Ethiopia at the beginning of August. Then, in September, he joined the Italian embassy in Skopje as an intern, working as a press officer there until the end of January 2008.
In his current post he deals with all matters related to communications. He also writes Bulgaria’s only daily Italian newsletter, concentrating on economic issues. “On Saturdays we make a special edition of this newsletter tackling social and cultural issues. And then I do the job of a press officer. A journalist and a press officer – it’s a strange job!”
Cassi believes that the committee, which now has 200 members, has made great progress since 2006. “We’ve expanded the quality of our services and initiatives. We’ve created a new post of executive director and opened an office of relations and communications. Our aim is to be as close as possible to our members and those we work alongside. We offer a place where Italian businessmen can communicate with other businessmen and find common ground.”
When Cassi undertook his position, he strove to improve the service and the news office’s activities. He also propelled the special Saturday newsletter. He also created the Comitato Day, a day when Italian businesspersons can gather and socialise. The first Comitato Day, which took place in April, was a wine tasting that proved very popular. The second Comitato Day, a visit to Perperikon, will be in September. “We’re also trying to create a fortnightly newspaper for Italian companies in Italy interested in moving their activity or part or their activity to Bulgaria,” he says to The Sofia Echo.
Cassi believes that Italian investors now see Bulgaria as presenting broader horizons. “In the 1990s many Italian enterprises just viewed Bulgaria as a place to make easy money through speculation in real estate. However, since the beginning of the millennium, many enterprises now also come here to invest in the manufacturing sector, producing goods to sell in Italy. The main problem facing Italian investors in Bulgaria is lack of manpower. People here change jobs frequently and don’t stay long in the same company. This is also a problem for Bulgarian enterprises.”
Considering his work in Ethiopia, it’s no surprise he’s also trying, with his president’s support, to develop CCIIB’s involvement in social activities. “Italian enterprises linked to Bulgaria have a moral duty to give something back. Collaborating with Francesco Feddi from the NGO Amici dei Bambini, I’ve witnessed the dramatic state of Bulgaria’s children’s social care homes. We’re very involved in gathering money for Amici dei Bambini. Engaging in social initiatives is not just a moral imperative, it’s also an investment in the future. We can help children who could otherwise fall prey to criminal activities. We’re set to collaborate for the first time with a home in Totleben, near Pleven, that has about 100 children, trying to improve their quality of life.”
Originally from Florence, Cassi says that several individuals – who acted as role models – helped to mould his character. “I’ve always been fortunate. In the Italian embassy in Skopje I met someone who helped me become more serious. His name was Roberto Rizzo, Italy’s deputy ambassador in Skopje. I have to thank him and Carlo Belli, a professor in international relations, whom I followed to Perugia after two years’ studying in Florence. He was a surrogate father for me, and Rizzo was like an older brother. I have four brothers and I am the eldest, so I always try to find people who can teach me something instead of me teaching them. My current president [of CCIIB], Massimo Bartocci, is also a kind of surrogate father to me. So I have two surrogate fathers and one older brother,” he says, smiling.
In between two years of higher education in Florence and another two years in Perugia, Cassi spent a year in Madrid under the Erasmus programme.
As far as his profession is concerned, Cassi says that although journalism was not his first choice, he really enjoys it. “When I was 11 I wanted to be president of the republic. I’m not good at foreign languages, neither am I particularly practical, but I am good at writing. So being a journalist is not a choice, it’s a duty. I may not be a journalist now – according to the strict definition of the term – but I love watching, analysing and writing about events.”
Cassi’s impressions of Bulgaria are not only based on his four-month stay here. “I came to Bulgaria for the first time four years ago, in December 2004. I remember there was a lot of snow. My family had a small business here – we participated in the realisation of a business centre. Bulgaria has made many changes since then but I’m afraid not all the changes are positive. GDP has grown, but I see that many people are still in difficult circumstances.”
Moving from Florence to Sofia was never easy for Cassi. “It’s very difficult to leave your home and move abroad. My girlfriend and family are far away, as are my 2000 surrogate fathers and surrogate mothers,” he says jokingly. “And Sofia is not an easy city. I love Bulgaria. It’s a wonderful place when you go out of Sofia, especially in this season; it looks like paradise – with all this green, it’s wonderful. But Sofia’s cursed by traffic, agitation and anxiety. When I have to return here from Florence and I have to pack my bag and close the door of my house behind me, it’s difficult.”
In spite of the hardships endured by foreigners abroad, Cassi embraced the opportunity to come to Bulgaria. “My life is not a straight path. Sometimes I see an opportunity and if I feel that it’s right, I follow it. And so there was this opportunity in Bulgaria. Massimo Bartocci trusted me and now I am here. I do the best I can, although sometimes I make mistakes.”
Cassi is optimistic that his committee will achieve its aims and upgrade its service. He sees his main goals as helping members with problems, gaining their trust, forging bonds and improving the quality of the organisation’s news operation.
Finally, true to type, Cassi has another innovative plan for Bulgaria. He wants to introduce an Italian radio programme with the help of other young Italians. “At the beginning it would be a web-based programme, then we hope to collaborate with the BNR and try to create a one-hour weekly programme,” he says.
