Having spent his school days in both an international school in Tokyo and in Rome, Andy acquired the fluent command in English, Japanese, and Italian. It was quite natural for him to start searching for his identity at the early stage of his life then.

With a great interest in the reality of the world, Andy travelled across the globe as a young photo journalist, also experienced various careers such as event productions and public relations for diverse clients in and outside of Japan. In 2005 Andy became a radio deejay / presenter at J-WAVE, a highly acquainted FM station in Tokyo, and ran 3-hour Saturday live show MODAISTA, and THREE SIXTY for 7 and half years overall, notably connecting with more than 30 radio stations in elsewhere in the world and visiting 11cities for live feed from abroad.

As an anchor Andy hosted NHK BS1: EL MUNDO’ TV show (2011-2014) , NHK GENERAL “BS Concierge” (2012-2015), and NHK World DESIGN TALKS at NHK, the national public broadcaster in Japan. Andy also took a role as a ‘student’ to Harumi Kurihara / co-presenter in NHK EDUCATIONAL “Kyouno Ryouri with Harumi Kurihara” (2013-2019).

Andy has been the host for NHK WORLD “DESIGN TALKS PLUS” since 2015, presenting the beauty of Japanese designs to the world. The DESIGN TALKS PLUS (English version) is shown on TV in more than 100 countries in the world and online as well. Selected archives are also shown as Japanese overdubbed version on NHK EDUCATIONAL.

Andy describes himself as a ‘filter’, hoping to help connecting Japan to the rest of the world.

General Commissioner Expo Osaka 2025, Ambassador

Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine (France) on 7 July 1966, he graduated in Political Science from the University of Rome in 1989 and entered the diplomatic service in 1991, holding posts in Washington DC, Cairo, Tokyo and Osaka, among others. In 2001, he returned to Rome as diplomatic advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Policies, and in 2008 he served as diplomatic advisor to the Mayor of Rome.
In 2014, he became coordinator for relations between the European Union and Asia-Pacific countries, both on a bilateral and multilateral level, taking care, among other things, of relations with regional organisations such as ASEAN.

Born 1 May 1959 in Rome
1982 Graduated with top honours from the Faculty of Law, University of La Sapienza, Rome
1985 Joins the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Economic Affairs Department
1987-1991 Italian Embassy in Japan, Economic and Commercial Section
1991-1995 Embassy of Italy in the United States of America
1995 Parliamentary Task Force of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
1998-1999 Diplomatic exchange programme ‘Hope Fellowship’.
Seconded to the NATO Office, US Department of State
1999-2001 Political Section, Embassy of Italy in the USA
2001-2002 Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2003 Coordinator of the Italian EU Presidency Website
2004-2006 Deputy Head of the Policy Planning Department and Head of the Statistics Office, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2006-2011 Two consecutive Italian Ministers of Public Administration and Innovation through a change of government
Advisor on Foreign Affairs
2011 Diplomatic Advisor to the Italian Minister of Education, Universities and Research
In charge of coordinating the Ministry's international activities and relations with universities and research institutions abroad and in relation to Europe under four successive ministers

2014 Head of preparation and coordination in the education, research and space sectors during the Italian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. Promoted the European project ‘Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area’ (PRIMA). During the Italian G7 Presidency, responsible for the coordination and preparation of the G7 Science Ministers' Meeting held in Turin on 28-29 September 2014.

2012-2015 Head of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) Mission to Italy.
14 Aug 2017 - 30 Sept 2021 Ambassador of Italy to Israel

2021 Grande Ufficiale, Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy (OMRI)

Valentino Valentini was born in Bologna on June 28, 1962.
After graduating in languages ​​in Trieste and working as a professional interpreter, in 1987 he became an official at the European Parliament in Brussels. He subsequently obtained a Master in Business and in 1999 he became executive assistant for political and international affairs to the President of Forza Italia Silvio Berlusconi.

In 2001 he was appointed Head of the Office of the Prime Minister and Special Advisor for Foreign Relations.

In 2006 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, where he was part of the European Affairs Committee.
In 2008, confirmed in the Chamber, he maintained the position of Special Advisor for Foreign Relations to the Prime Minister.
In 2013 he was re-elected and served on the European Affairs Committee and the Italian delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.

After the 2018 elections, he became group leader of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber. At the same time, he held the position of advisor for international relations to the President of the Senate and since 2020 he has taken on the role of Deputy Group Leader in the Chamber.

Since 31 October 2022 he has been Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy.

Born in Verona, I grew up in Trieste, where I studied at the Galilei scientific high school and at the Faculty of Communication Sciences. After graduating, I obtained a Master's degree in Communication Analysis and Management and worked as a marketing manager for several companies in the Northeast.

In addition to my wife Elena, whom I married in 2013 and who gave me two wonderful children, my great love has always been politics. A passion that I began to cultivate when I was just 15 years old and that, in 2003, led me to hold the position of provincial secretary of the League.

In 2008 I was elected for the first time to the Chamber of Deputies, a seat confirmed in both 2013 and 2018: ten intense years, which left me with the skills resulting from years of battles in the Labour Commission and a wonderful period of almost four years as President of the Lega and Autonomies parliamentary group.

On 29 April 2018, the citizens of Friuli Venezia Giulia called me home, entrusting me with the leadership of the Region for the first time and subsequently renewing their trust in me in the session of 2 and 3 April 2023: a mandate to which was added - starting from 9 April 2021 - that of president of the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces.