Our President

Paolo Petiziol was born in Cervignano del Friuli on 14 July 1946.
He was bred and educated according to Friulian traditional values.
Culturally speaking, he received his education in a “border” area, where he was influenced by the supranational models in force.
He graduated in economics at the University of Trieste and continued his higher education with several courses and internships at the Scuola di Direzione Aziendale (School of Management) of “Bocconi” University in Milan, “Luiss” University in Rome, Istituto Superiore di Direzione Aziendale (Higher School of Management) in Milan and Associazione Bancaria Italiana (Italian Banking Association).
From 1970 to 2000 he worked in the banking sector and specialised in internal auditing, to then become the Head of Internal Auditing for the north-eastern area in Italy.
From 1999 to 2003 he was the Chairman of Finest S.p.A., the public Finance Company of  Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige promoting economic cooperation with Eastern European countries. In this context, he actively participated in several important economic and financial initiatives between north-eastern Italy and Central and Eastern European countries, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Production Activities and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
He also was a member of the Board of Directors in many Italian and foreign companies, as well as the Chairman of a Hungarian holding company.
He has recently founded and is the chair of “Diplomatic Check Point”, an association promoting international relations operating as a private diplomatic agency.
Back in 1974, he founded the Mitteleurope Cultural Association, spurred by his family education and cultural background strongly influenced by the Mitteleuropean environment. He put all his efforts and energy in this association, which culturally speaking has been acknowledged at international level.
Due to his constant devotion and the several initiatives he implemented, he has been awarded many international honours, among others:

• In October 1991 he received the “Grosse Ehrenzeichen” (Great Medal of Honour) of the Republic of Austria by the President of the Austrian Republic.
  

• In May 1992 he was decorated with the Medal for Culture, the “Komensky Order” by the then Czechoslovakian government.
  

• In June 1992 he was awarded the “Grosse Ehrenzeichen” of the Land of Carinthia by the then regional Governor
  

• In November 1996 he was appointed Honorary Consul for the area of Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige by the government of the Czech Republic, and became Head of the Consulate of the Czech Republic in Udine.
  

• In April 1997 he was awarded the “Cross for merit of Hungary” by the President of the Republic of Hungary

• In September 2004 he was given the “Medal of the Slovak Ambassador at the Quirinal” for his highly-prized activities promoting good relations between Slovakia and Italy.

• In September 2005 he was decorated with the silver medal of the Czech Foreign Ministry in recognition of his activities to develop relations between Italy and the Czech Republic.

• In October 2005 he was awarded the honorary citizenship by the city authorities of Suquian, an important industrial centre of the Jang Su region in the People’s Republic of China.