ICE Brussels increasingly a hub for Italian defence

Brussels – Mastering the Atlantic Alliance’s new procurement procedures to compete at the highest level in international tenders: This is the aim of the seminar “NATO’s New Procurement Policy and Procedures”, organised by the ICE Brussels Office for Friday 5 December 2025 (10:00-11:00), in which the new procurement rules of the Atlantic Alliance will be presented. 

The event, which will take place in a hybrid format (at Place de la Liberté 12 and online), represents a fundamental step for the Italian business system, which is increasingly integrated in global security value chains. The proceedings will be opened and moderated by Tindaro Paganini, Director of the ICE Brussels Office. Counsellor Massimo Gaudiano (Permanent Representation of Italy to NATO) will take the floor for institutional greetings and, for the technical part, C.F. Daniela Veletta (Italian Representative to the NATO Investment Committee), who will illustrate the changes in procurement and investment policies.

A long-term strategy: from the success of the “Italian Defence Industry Days” to the future

Today’s seminar is not an isolated initiative but part of an articulated strategy aimed at consolidating the Italian defence industry’s positioning in Brussels. A milestone on this path was the Italian Defence Industry Day (IDID), held on 10 and 11 December 2024. Organised by ICE-Agenzia in collaboration with the Ministry of Defence, the event brought 28 Italian excellences (including large groups and SMEs) into the heart of the institutions: first at The Square conference centre and then directly at NATO Headquarters. With more than 300 international stakeholders, diplomats, and military leaders involved, the IDID demonstrated Italy’s ability to work as a system.

Today, the ICE Office in Brussels also continues these commitments through the “ICE Listens to Europe” seminar cycle, preparing companies for the upcoming international events. In fact, the strategy includes qualified participation in the main trade fairs in the Benelux, such as Bedex 2026 (Brussels, March 2026) and Neds 2026 (Rotterdam, November 2026)

The Numbers of 2025: ICE Brussels as a Promotion Engine

The event on Friday 5 December marks the end of the three-year launch of the “ICE Ascolta l’Europa” (ICE listens to Europe) project, which has seen the ICE Office in Brussels establish itself as a reference point for the promotion of European and NATO issues and the Defence and Aerospace sector, achieving the following objectives: 20 seminars held on frontier topics (including ICT, Space, AI, Cyber); more than 50 institutional speakers; more than 700 business representatives involved. 

These figures attest to ICE’s daily commitment to facilitating dialogue among Italian companies, the European Union, and NATO, thereby transforming institutional relations into concrete business opportunities. Therefore, the ICE Office in Brussels confirms its essential role in facilitating understanding of continental political dynamics and in promoting the construction of solid contact networks for Made in Italy. 

For information and participation:
ICE Brussels Place de la Liberté 12, 1000 Brussels Email: bruxelles@ice.it