INTESA SANPAOLO and ALEXBANK Hold a Historical Exhibition Celebrating the 150th Anniversary of the Suez Canal

Cairo – November 12^th, 2018 - On the occasion of the visit to Egypt of the Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo Group - Prof. Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, INTESA SANPAOLO and ALEXBANK held an exhibition at the bank’s Head Office in Cairo entitled “Egypt and Italy: A Century of Collaboration Around the Mediterranean’’, to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the Suez Canal opening. The exhibition will remain on display to the benefit of ALEXBANK’s customers until November 29, 2018.

The opening ceremony was attended by Prof. Gros-Pietro, Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo Group, H.E Mr. Giampaolo Cantini, Italian Ambassador to Egypt, Mr. Ignacio Jaquotot, Head of the International Subsidiary Banks Division of Intesa Sanpaolo Group, Mr. Dante Campioni, Managing Director & CEO of ALEXBANK, and distinguished guests.

“It is a true honor to open this historical exhibition celebrating the 150Th anniversary of the Suez Canal, a crucial passage for the Mediterranean Countries and Europe. The exhibition, realized thanks to the documentation selected by the Intesa Sanpaolo’s Historical Archives, reminds us of the strong, fruitful and long-lasting relations between Egypt and Italy.”  stated Prof. Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, Chairman of Intesa Sanpaolo Group.

Mr. Ignacio Jaquotot, Head of the International Subsidiary Banks Division of Intesa Sanpaolo stated “I’d like to express my heartfelt thanks to all attendees making this event happen and to the colleagues of Alexbank testifying their commitment through the years in giving the Group’s solid contribution to the growth of the Country.”

Dante Campioni, Managing Director & CEO of ALEXBANK said: “We are delighted to host this exhibition staged at our Head Office in Cairo, to give our customers direct testimony of the long lasting relationships between Italy and Egypt, deeply connected not only by the common sea, but also by the historical economic and cultural relations established across the centuries”.

Among the main highlights, this exhibition included historical photographs, letters and postcards, curated by the Historical Archive of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, detailing the illustrious history of the Suez Canal and the development of Italian-Egyptian commercial and political relations dating back over more than a century.

It is worth mentioning that in 2015 ALEXBANK released a research paper produced in collaboration with SRM, a Research house specialized on the Mediterranean region located in Napoli and belonging to the Intesa Sanpaolo Group, under the title “The New Suez Canal: Economic Impact on Mediterranean Maritime Trade”. This was released to mark the completion, in one year only of the Mega-Project which led to dramatically increase the Canal capacity. The paper has been recently updated to provide insight on the growing contribution of the Suez Canal towards Egypt’s economic affirmation.