The Chamber kicked off the year with a function at headquarters of one of its major sponsors – Pitcher Partners, in Docklands – attended by many representatives from both Italo-Australian and Italian businesses and institutions.
The Chamber’s general secretary, Giovanni Caniglia, led a brief series of speeches starting with a video-call from Ambassador of Italy to Australia Francesca Tardioli.
The ambassador emphasised the Chamber’s increasingly important role, adding that the Melbourne chapter has “become the number one” in Australia.
Consul General of Italy in Victoria and Tasmania Pierluigi Trombetta echoed this sentiment, saying that the Chamber in Melbourne is one of the most active and important in the world.
Both Tardioli and Trombetta pointed out that the Chamber’s success is due to its high-quality projects and increasingly ambitious business ventures, along with its willingness to cooperate with a growing presence of Italian companies in Australia.
The Chamber has expanded by working with and representing both the “locals”, which remain the cornerstone of the organisation, and Italian businesses operating in Australia, which are increasingly present in many fields, from energy to infrastructure, from transport to finance.
Helmed by Luca Scribani Rossi, the ICCI in Melbourne has also established and strengthened ties between twin cities Melbourne and Milan, and Victoria and the Lombardy Region.
General Manager City Economy and Activation at City of Melbourne Katrina McKenzie highlighted that this partnership between the two cities is active in the fields of culture, design, technology, science, economy and environmental sustainability.
McKenzie added that amid the recent coronavirus outbreak in Lombardy, the Italian region has had to postpone a project in Australia scheduled for the coming weeks.
The important waste management project is being undertaken by the Lombardy Region, City of Melbourne and the Victorian government.
The initiative was successfully carried out thanks to the crucial diplomatic work of the ICCI and Italian Consulate in Melbourne.
The completion of this very important project has only been delayed, not cancelled.
Scribani Rossi briefly outlined the targets for 2020, which further build on the successes of 2019, and unveiled an exciting calendar that will be presented in detail in a future edition of our newspaper.
The Chamber’s 2020 program will appeal to an audience which appreciates the quality of the Made in Italy brand, not only in the leading sector of food and drink, but also in the fields of innovation, technology and energy, with seminars, consultancy and company training sessions.
Not to be missed are the Chamber’s traditional events which reward the best of Italo-Australian businesses: the gala evening in early November; the Melbourne Italian Festa, which has seen renewed popularity thanks to the involvement of the ICCI; and the international conference of the Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad, to be held in Brescia in October, thanks again to the Italian Consulate in Melbourne.
