Highlights

Industrial Committee

The Italian Chamber of Commerce is glad to introduce the newly created Industrial Committee.

The Industrial Committee is intended to bring together professionals to share insights and best practices from the Industry. It provides common platform to discuss challenges and opportunities with industry peers and to share the development and implementation of new market policies and regulations. Members of the Committee will exchange industry insights and operation information, discussing latest labour market trends and future developments.

We had a chat with the Chairman Luca Morlotti and Vice Chairman Giorgio Pagnoncelli to get to know more about the Committee and its mission.

1.What is the role/importance of Italy for the industrial sector? How has it changed in the past few years?

Even though Italy is famous worldwide for fashion, food, and touristic places, our country is also one of the major producers of industrial equipment and products in general.

In machine tools, Italy is ranked the second European exporter, and there are many other sectors, such as machines for ceramics, woodworking, food processing, textiles, and more, that are ranking in the top level worldwide.

Looking at the past few years, when we consider the market share of Italian industries among western countries, the global scenario has remained almost unchanged. However we are witnessing a strong growth of competitors from the Far East. Mainly China, but also Korea and Taiwan are increasing their presence in the world with a fast and constant pace. In this scenario, however, there are many opportunities for a large number of Italian SMES that, strong of the creativity typical of our culture, combined with a solid technical background, they are able to develop innovative solutions that cannot be found in these new emerging markets, which are more oriented to mass and cheap production .

2.How important is it for Italian companies in this industry to be present in HK and how does this help connecting and working with other Markets in Asia?

Far Eastern markets are definitely growing fast and they are also quite big, both in terms of consumption and production of industrial goods, and this is the place where we need to be. There are a number of reasons to choose Hong Kong as Hub for Far East. In particular: • Geographical position. Hong Kong is in the very centre of Far East. From here you can reach all the countries within four hours flight. It also lies in the centre of the various time zones with max +/- 1 hour difference • All services (Banking, infrastructures, IT, transportation….) are among the best in the world. • Taxation is very straightforward and low • There are future development projects, such as the “Great Bay Area” that see Hong Kong as one of the major players • The OBOR (One Belt One Road) initiative, where HK can play a pivotal role as “super-connector” between the Mainland and the rest of the world, especially other countries in South East Asia.

3. Why is it important to have the Industrial sector represented? What are the functions and expectations from this working group?

The companies operating in the industrial sector have dynamics and ways of working that are specific and quite different from other types of business. A dedicated working group will be able to focus and support the participants with initiatives that might have different priorities and targets. Additionally, the networking between participants will help to share insights and common issues that might have been already faced and resolved by other companies of the group

4. What role can this Committee play during these challenging times in support to entrepreneurs & SMEs?

Most Italian companies in Hong Kong are fully dedicated to the management of their core business and have little time and/or resources to explore a number of transversal areas that can be beneficial to their general development. There is a number of activities that can be leveraged by the committee and made available to the single companies, such as: subsidies by local government (Invest Hong Kong) for the commercial penetration or financial support schemes by SACE, just to name a few. Additionally, the fact that the committee is a formal entity of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, will make our presence more “official” and will give easier access to local governmental institutions, Embassies and Consulates and other Chambers of Commerce in Hong Kong and Asean Countries. Let me take the occasion to thank the Board of the Italian Chamber of Commerce for the strong support to this initiative and all the staff for their

kind availability.

True Italian Taste

Through its artisanship and fresh ingredients, Italian cuisine has earned a well-founded place in culinary across centuries. The influence of the Italian food culture is spread widely around the world, but how much do we really know about the authenticity, history and tradition behind it?

The project TRUE ITALIAN TASTE is part of a national campaign whose main goal is to promote awareness around the world about the authentic and certified agri-food Italian products. In the continent supermarkets’ shelves extensively host many products evoking Italy, neither having any connection to Italy nor involving an Italian manufacturer. TRUE ITALIAN TASTE is part of the campaign The Extraordinary Italian Taste – is promoted and financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and implemented by Assocamerestero, in collaboration with the Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad.

The initiative stands for the authenticity and quality of Italian products, certified under strict standards such as the PDO (ProtectedDesignation Origin) and the PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), allowing transparency on the product’s origin and production process. During the month of September, our Chamber organized three events dedicated to helping consumers to choose wisely when buying and using authentic Italian ingredients, supporting businesses and spreading the knowledge.

The Authentic Italian Table series took our guests on a magical journey to Piedmont and Sicily, discovering their unique products, artisanal tradition alongside the rich food and wine culture. The two enogastronomic virtual tours, live-streamed from Italy, presented to our guests the wonders of Ceretto Winery in Piedmont and Tasca D’Almerita Winery in Sicily.

The Piedmont region is a land to discover through its unique products, artisanal tradition, and creative food and wine culture deeply rooted in history and people.

On September 16th, Federico Ceretto, CEO of Ceretto Wineries, presented to our guests the wonders behind the Ceretto vineyards and, thanks to chef Dennis Panzeri, from La Piola restaurant, they learnt the authentic flavours and the culinary tradition of the Langhe that are part of the enogastronomy heritage of the Piedmont region

The second virtual tour took place on September 18th and was dedicated to the history and tradition of Sicily. Our guests made the most of their time at home with Chef Fabrizia Lanza, Director of the Anna Tasca Lanza Cooking School, and the wine and tourism expert Corrado Maugeri who shared their knowledge about Sicilian enogastronomy history and traditions.

The third event organized as part of the TRUE ITALIAN TASTE initiative was a masterclass entirely dedicated to one of the Italian excellences, the extra virgin olive oil. During the class, an Olive Oil sommelier took our guests on an extraordinary journey of properties and the importance of recognizing the authenticity of the products.

Participants learnt through this exclusive online Masterclass the secrets behind this superb ingredient, including its health-giving properties and the importance of recognizing the authenticity of the Italian Olive Oil.

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