The detailed program of initiatives, events, and collaborations planned for 2025 was presented, the year in which Lazio has been chosen as the Region of Honor by the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF).

Hosting the event, the President of the Lazio Region, Francesco Rocca, along with Vice President and Economic Development Minister Roberta Angelilli, welcomed NIAF President Robert Allegrini and Amedeo Teti, Head of the Department for the Market at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy.

The National Italian American Foundation, a key reference for the more than 20 million Italian-Americans living in the United States, has chosen Lazio as the Region of Honor for 2025, the Holy Year during which, among other things, the association will also celebrate its 50th anniversary. This is an important opportunity to showcase Lazio’s strengths in the United States through events that will also bring several small and medium-sized enterprises, startups, and medium-large Lazio businesses across the ocean to promote partnerships and collaborations with American companies.

One of the major events is the Business Forum in New York, scheduled for April 8-10, 2025, organized in collaboration with NIAF, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, the Transatlantic Investment Committee (TIC), and with the Italian institutions operating in New York. The event aims to foster industrial partnerships, stimulate opportunities for discussions on innovation, improve the integration of Lazio companies in the U.S. market, and support the competitiveness of startups and SMEs by acting as a meeting point for information exchange, collaboration, and growth in innovative sectors.

For this purpose, the Lazio Region, through Lazio Innova, has opened a call that will offer 20 innovative startups and SMEs in the Aerospace, Life Sciences, Energy, and Artificial Intelligence sectors the chance to participate in the Business Forum in New York.

Another key moment will be the visit of the NIAF Board, which consists of a delegation of influential Italian-American community leaders. They will be in Lazio from June 1-9. During this trip, board members will have the opportunity to engage in direct and fruitful dialogue with representatives from the Lazio regional government and visit lesser-known yet significant locations representing the region's excellence, in order to promote the return of high-level tourism. They will also discover numerous lesser-known technological and innovative centers in Lazio.

As part of the exchange program to promote Lazio's cultural heritage, the "Voyage of Discovery" program will give 48 young Italian-American university students the chance to visit the Lazio region, exploring its historic cities and small towns of great artistic relevance to strengthen their connection to their roots.

The concluding event of the Region of Honor initiatives will be the "50th Anniversary Gala of the National Italian American Foundation," scheduled for Saturday, October 18, 2025, in Washington D.C. This will be a significant event, honoring Lazio as the Region of Honor, bringing the richness of its culture, traditions, and gastronomy to the U.S. capital. The Gala, which will host over two thousand guests, will not only be a cultural celebration but also an opportunity to promote Lazio throughout the United States.

The annual Gala will be preceded by three intense days of events and networking, with an increasing focus on mutual promotion of investments. In this context, the Transatlantic Investment Committee will organize an event at the Italian Embassy in Washington, concentrating on the development of local-to-local projects, involving both Regions and U.S. federal states. The aim of this initiative is to strengthen the ability of regions to develop co-investments with the U.S. in specific strategic sectors of mutual interest.