**Milan, 29 October 2021 **– NHOA is delighted to announce that the President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella has awarded Nelson Chang, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NHOA, the title of “Grand Officer of the Order of the Star of Italy”, at a ceremony held at the Italian Office for Economic, Commercial and Cultural Promotion in Taipei.
The honour of the Order of the Star of Italy – the oldest order of merit in the Italian Republic, dating back to 1947, then known as the Order of the Star of Italian Solidarity – was bestowed on Nelson Chang for his work to foster relations between Taiwan and Italy and for his support for Italian culture, history and the country itself.
As well as Chairman of the Board of Directors of NHOA, Nelson Chang is in fact the main Taiwanese investor in Italy, with diversified interests in the tourism, property, energy and agricultural sectors, and a specific focus on investing in the restoration of historical and artistic heritage for residential and hotel use.
“I’m honoured to receive this award”, noted Nelson Chang, “because I have a great love for Italy, its culture, its history and the stunning Italian countryside. From a young age, I hoped I could one day bring to Taiwan the values expressed by Humanism and the Italian Renaissance”.
The honour of the Order of the Star of Italy was given to Nelson Chang on 27 October 27 by Minister Plenipotentiary Davide Giglio. Given this year’s 700th anniversary of the death of Dante Alighieri, he highlighted the merit of Nelson Chang in having restored the historic Palazzo Portinari Salviati in Florence, birthplace of Beatrice Portinari, Dante’s muse.
Palazzo Portinari Salviati – now owned by LDC Hotels and Resorts, of which Nelson Chang is also the CEO – will open to the public in the first half of 2022. Five years of restoration have turned it into a residential and hospitality project, to add to the other properties of great historical value that LDC Hotels and Resorts has restored and transformed into unique hotels in Florence, Rome, Venice, Piedmont and Umbria.
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