“Dear fellow citizens, as the Christmas and year-end holidays approach, it gives me great pleasure to share a few reflections with you. But first and foremost, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks to the many among you who have supported us and who have conveyed their appreciation for the numerous innovations we introduced this year, as well as for the quality and the breadth of services we have been able to provide.”
“We are truly very proud to serve Italy: we believe deeply in serving our community—each and every one of you—with commitment and determination, to the very best of our abilities and by making full use of the resources at our disposal. Sound and orderly administration—efficient, sensible, and attentive—is an important factor in the well-being of a society and of a country. It is undoubtedly a systemic and competitive advantage. And this is something that all of you who live abroad know well—indeed, perhaps even more keenly than those who reside in Italy.”
“When taking stock of the activity of the Consulate General, it is always useful to start from tangible data, from the numbers. Our community has continued to grow this year as well: it appears to be an unstoppable trend, month after month (+500/600 individuals), year on year (+5.6% compared to 2024), and historically (+112% compared to ten years ago).”
“Our Consulate General is the second in the United States in terms of the number of fellow citizens registered with AIRE: we are now over 66,000. All indicators point to sustained growth in the years ahead. Our community in Florida, as well as in Georgia, South Carolina, and the other states within the Consular District of the Consulate General, continues to expand. At these latitudes, the paths of many intersect and converge: students, workers, professionals, entrepreneurs, scientists, and artists. I am always struck by the energy, creativity, and strength that emanate from our community. The needs you bring to our attention and the requests you address to us are our top priority.”
“I am pleased to be able to tell you that, by making the best possible use of the human and material resources available to us, we rank second only to the Consulate of New York in the volume of consular services provided to our fellow citizens and to foreign users. By way of example: this year we issued over 7,000 passports, processed nearly 5,800 AIRE registration applications, and granted 2,800 visas. The figures for services delivered to you are rising sharply: passports are up by 25.8% compared to last year (also as a result of several outreach missions beyond Miami), and AIRE registrations by 6.7%. It should also be borne in mind that in 2025 we devoted significant resources to organizing voting by mail in connection with the abrogative referendums held on 8 and 9 June.”
“But that is not all. I am confident that this year you have also noticed the number and the scope of events and initiatives we carried out, together with the Italian Cultural Institute and the ICE Agency – Miami Office.”
“Dozens of events, initiatives, and promotional showcases have highlighted the very best of Made in Italy in all its facets, as you may have seen on our website and social media channels: from design to food and wine, from luxury yachting to infrastructure, from craftsmanship to manufacturing, from sport to advanced automotive, from machinery to aerospace and new technologies.”
“There is no sector of the Italian economy or of our culture that we have not sought to promote and showcase appropriately; nor, on the other hand, is there any sector of our national economy whose finest productions and areas of excellence are not capable of offering the right response to the needs of this market with its enormous potential. Altogether, the five states within the consular district of the Consulate General (Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi) generate imports from Italy amounting to approximately 8.4 billion dollars per year. Florida in particular is the fourth-largest U.S. state by GDP (1.5 trillion dollars) and the sixteenth-largest economy in the world.”
“With total trade with Italy amounting to 4.9 billion dollars in 2024, Florida has risen to fourth place among U.S. states in terms of total imports in the food and wine sector alone, and it is the state that hosts the largest number of Italian companies in the United States—more than four hundred—which employ thousands of people.”
“Made in Italy Day, Italian Design Day, Italian Sports Day in the World, the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, Contemporary Art Day, Space Day, Italian Research Day celebrating Italian science worldwide, the Week of the Italian Language, festivals, Food Design Night, business-to-business and government-to-business seminars, and the so-called signature events held in conjunction with major international trade fairs such as Art Basel/Art Miami, Seatrade, and eMerge—these are just some of the many occasions through which the promotional activities of the Italy System have taken shape. Many initiatives, made possible also thanks to the generous support of our enterprises—small and medium-sized, and some large ones—present across the vast territory of the southeastern United States. All these activities have consistently enjoyed broad and high-level participation not only from the American public, but also from the authorities.”
“And it is precisely this latter aspect that has been the most encouraging and gratifying regarding the work carried out this year: in 2025, our fruitful cooperation with federal, state, and local authorities was further strengthened.”
“On many occasions, it has been possible to speak of a genuine partnership to promote bilateral relations and to further intensify economic, commercial, cultural, and scientific exchanges. In particular, following the entrepreneurial mission to Italy led last year by the Governor of Florida, bilateral relations between our two peninsulas were further strengthened by an additional, wide-ranging institutional visit by the Government of Florida in September. This visit marked the opening of a Florida representative office in Milan and Florida’s first-ever participation in the Genoa International Boat Show. During that mission, Florida signed a cooperation protocol with the Lombardy Region, which is expected to give further impetus to economic, commercial, and cultural relations.”
“In November, the first official visit to Miami by the Ambassador of Italy, Marco Peronaci, highlighted—through numerous institutional meetings, encounters with the business community, and engagements with our community—the extraordinary prospects for the development of relations with Italy and the immense potential that remains to be tapped. And we will certainly not fail to do so.”
“Dear fellow citizens, we should be proud of these intense bilateral relations with Italy, to which you yourselves make a major contribution through your work, your commitment, and your emotional investment here.”
“Everything begins with people and, in a sense, returns to people. And it shows. And it is recognized. This year, Miami-Dade County, the City of Coral Gables, and the City of Tampa joined the many local administrations that over the years have dedicated the month of October to celebrating the historical and cultural heritage of Italian Americans and their contribution to the development and prosperity of the United States—a wonderful gesture of friendship between Italy and the United States, which honors the contribution of the Italian men and women who preceded you here and who put down roots in this country, without forgetting their origins and by passing on their values and culture.”
“Our culture—as we know well—captivates the entire world through its ability to speak to everyone and to say something meaningful to each individual, transcending geography and history. This is borne out by the work of our Italian Cultural Institute through the many events it organizes each year for our American friends, for you, and for all lovers of Italy.”
“Our culture is about relationships, communication, and sharing. It is a unique and unrepeatable approach to life, one that inspires emotion and engagement. It is in these terms that our cuisine has been recognized by UNESCO as part of the world’s intangible cultural heritage, as an expression of ‘sustainability’ and ‘bio-cultural diversity.’”
“It is an honor and a privilege to contribute to the dissemination of our values by promoting our culture and our language—extraordinary vehicles for the creativity, ingenuity, professionalism, expertise, and hard work of Italian men and women throughout the world.”
“We have many other projects planned for the coming year as well: to assist you even more effectively in the area of consular services, and to promote our culture, our science, and our enterprises, drawing strength from our approach to life and from the Italian vision of the world, in the year when Miami will host the G20 and the FIFA World Cup.”
“We know we can count on your support—and on your constructive encouragement—to honor our country through ever-better service, as we always strive to do. To you and to your loved ones, I extend my warmest wishes for a peaceful Christmas and a happy New Year.”
Michele Mistò
