Andrea Canapa

Expert in Institutional Relations and Economic Diplomacy

Andrea Canapa is Senior Counsel at DWG Next, where he advises on institutional strategy, economic diplomacy and international growth in complex geopolitical environments.

With over 25 years of experience across senior roles in national governments, European institutions and international organizations, Andrea brings a rare combination of policy design expertise and operational execution at scale. His career has been defined by building structured bridges between public institutions and global business communities, enabling countries, regions and companies to position themselves strategically in international markets.

Andrea has served within the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the European Commission, and has worked alongside key actors of the Italian economic system as well as multilateral institutions including the World Bank Group, UNIDO and UNHCR.

He has led complex international programs, managed multi-country cooperation portfolios, and overseen large-scale nation-branding and export acceleration initiatives across Europe, Asia and Latin America.

His expertise lies in strategic economic diplomacy and geopolitical positioning, public–private governance models and institutional architecture, international partnership ecosystems and cross-border alliances, global communication strategies and nation branding, design and governance of EU and multilateral funding instruments, and structured market entry and international expansion frameworks.

Andrea has played a key role in shaping structured Italy–China institutional relations, strengthening regional internationalization strategies, and designing integrated export promotion programs across multiple strategic markets .

His work combines strategic foresight with operational depth, translating political and institutional complexity into actionable growth pathways.

At DWG Next, Andrea contributes to the firm’s advisory platform by supporting governments, institutions and corporations in navigating systemic risk, regulatory fragmentation and evolving global value chains. His approach integrates geopolitical analysis, institutional intelligence and long-term partnership building to deliver sustainable international positioning strategies.

He holds a Degree in Political Science (International Relations) from Sapienza University of Rome and speaks Italian, English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.