We had the distinct honor of interpreting for the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, during his official visit to the United Arab Emirates in January 2017. The Minister was in the UAE to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Italy and the UAE. We offered our simultaneous interpreting services to him at the Italian Embassy to the UAE’s commemoration of the bilateral business relations. The Italian Embassy to the UAE, the Italian Consulate in Dubai and the Italian Trade Agency hosted this cocktail party on the evening of January 29th for Emirati and Italian business representatives. In the beautiful pool area of the Downtown Dubai Sofitel, the Foreign Minister socialized with the business owners before making his keynote address on the importance of continued business relations between the two nations.
The cocktail party was both a social celebration and an informative presentation for the Emirati and Italian business representatives. To accommodate the event’s setting and flow, our team arrived early to determine the best way to use our full conference equipment in the unorthodox outside venue. While still providing our simultaneous interpreting services, we were able to fit our company provided soundproof booth behind the presentation screen. This way we did not impeded on guest’s ability to mingle and were still able to provide a fluid and accurate Italian to English translation. The audience received this translation through our company-provided personal headsets with infrared earphones. We selected our interpreter based on his fluency in both Italian and English, as well as his prior experience in translating topics relating to business and international relations. Although there were no technical difficulties at the cocktail party, one of our skilled technicians remained on-hand throughout the event to monitor the technology’s performance and operation.
The Embassy’s event was both a fun and informative way to begin the Foreign Minister’s trip to the UAE. We are pleased to have offered our interpreting services to help strengthen and commemorate the Italian-Emirati relationship. Events like this do not always occur during normal business hours or in conference settings, but at LangPros we can offer our interpreting services at any venue and any time.