ItalianCham Vol. 16

with

MEMO

SPOTLIGHT

SPOTLIGHT

STORY

A COFFEE BREAK

FOCUS

IWA

OF THE TOWN

CULTURE & LIFESTYLE

ON HONG KONG

Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong

1006-07, 10/F,

Wan,

Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

+852 2521 8837

icc@icc.org.hk

icc.org.hk

Macao

CHAMBER OF

IN HONG KONG & MACAO

Dear members, associates and friends,

Borrowing from Greek mythology, it seems the pandemic has come along with a more subtle psychologically pervasive Sisyphus syndrome. The continuous back and forth with good, bad and conflicting news has been exhausting, finding ourselves often back to square one.

However, considering the ongoing trends worldwide, we seem now approaching the final phase of a troubled era.

Despite the undeniable slowdown, we are pleased to report that your Chamber is growing steadily, bringing us to just shy of the 200-member mark, in line with our endof-the-year target. New members, particularly from the local business community, have displayed interest in our Chamber and our country. To which we interpret as an encouraging sign and an opportunity for connection to our Italian enterprises.

We are pleased to extend our warmest welcome to Mr. Carmelo Ficarra, the new Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong and Ms. Antonietta Cornacchia, Deputy Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong. We look forward to a close collaboration to facilitate and encourage business ventures for our members.

This autumn, we are looking forward to several key events: the Italia Mia series of events in October; the traditional Italian fair; the resume of business lunch series and perhaps another exciting appointment with the Open Talk series (subject to restriction). In addition, our Chamber will participate in the upcoming Rethink Sustainable Business Forum and Solution Expo in partnership with the European Chamber.

Looking forward to seeing you all soon.

With warmest wishes, Ivano Poma

with the Italian Chamber of

in

and

In

July 2022, the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong & Macao (ICC) and CRIF announced their partnership to bring a range of new services for members and non-members, to help them drive new business opportunities and strengthen their credit risk management. CRIF is a global company specialising in credit bureau and business information, as well as advanced digital solutions for business development and open banking. Since its presence in Hong Kong in 2014, CRIF has been supporting the development of ICC members and local enterprises with various solutions. By leveraging CRIF’s extensive database, this partnership enables ICC members and non-members to get access to insightful data information and solutions, including:

KYC means Know Your Customer, which is a critical process for companies to understand the background of their potential or existing customers. While the process to check suppliers is called Know Your Supplier (KYS). It is also a compliance requirement (e.g. anti-money laundering) to perform KYC in many companies, so as to avoid getting involved in illegal activities. Regardless of industry and company size, KYC and KYS are important for companies to identify reliable business partners, with the aim of reducing credit risk in transactions, as doing business with quality customers can reduce the risk of default on payment; on the other hand, a good and trustworthy supplier can let buyers secure stable and timely supply so that the buyers can control sourcing budget whilst reducing the risk. It can minimise costs and make sourcing more efficient and effective.

financial and business

on companies,

In international trades, due to language, geographical and other barriers, companies often encounter difficulties in obtaining information on partners. Especially during COVID-19 pandemic, lockdown and other anti-pandemic measures have made companies unable to meet with overseas business partners in person. Under this situation, the credit reports provide important support to companies. Credit reports are always prepared by thirdparty professional credit reporting agencies, which will collect the data from official and government sources. They will also verify the information with the company under investigation by phone interviews and update it with more in-depth information. Thanks to the international presence and long-standing experience with local information providers, CRIF credit reports can provide indepth

Registration information, which is the basic official information about the company, such as registration number, legal form, address and shareholders.

Financial information such as balance sheet and financial statements information, can assist companies to assess the financial strength of partners. For example, it can help to predict if a buyer can pay punctually, or a supplier is standing out from the industry.

Operation details (e.g. import & export status) are helpful for determining the productivity of a company, such as the evaluation of the supplier’s supply capacity to ensure the stability of the supply.

Litigation record and public news are other indicators to determine the current situation, as well as the reputation in the industry of the partners. For example, if the partner is involved in a lawsuit for non-payment of office rental recently, it can be a dangerous signal.

Credit rating and default rate can quantify the trade risk through the estimation of the customer’s ability to pay and the chance of default in payment.

Trademark and patent Information can help to evaluate the level of innovation and development potential of the partners. When needed, an onsite investigation can be organised for specific countries and regions, to gather direct information and collect photos of the surroundings or even inside of partner’s factory or office with consent.

Compliance or sanction check is an important tool to identify the sanction risk and financial crime risk.

Also, CRIF can help to further strengthen the credit risk management of companies with its monitoring services: real-time notification will be delivered once there are any changes on the business information of the monitored partners, enabling companies to take necessary actions without delay. It is especially important to monitor the company situation of the existing partners, not only new partners. As the operation situation of the existing partners can worsen in a short period of time even if they had good cooperation history in the past, freshly updated information of business partners can provide useful insight for making immediate business decisions.

How can companies find new business opportunities in the post-pandemic era?

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the global business environment a lot, and hence companies are facing many challenges in business development. In the early stages of the pandemic, many international exhibitions were cancelled, postponed or changed to a virtual format. And now, although physical exhibitions start to resume, the scales and numbers are not back to the level before the pandemic yet, reducing the chance of meeting new potential partners. In addition, many companies have experienced different degrees of supply chain disruption, hence they may need to restructure the supply chain and relocate the production base to other regions. APAC region is a favourite place for the set-up of new factories and it is becoming one of the main centres of global supply chains.

In this context, CRIF can support by providing lists of leads and prospects, especially from most APAC countries, to find the target business partners depending on the specific industry and defined criteria, such as size, geographical location, legal form, revenues and so on. On top of the simple contact list, CRIF can provide lead qualification services, by collecting additional information, contacting the prospect directly and conducting brief surveys to explore the interest of the potential partner. Together with the use of CRIF’s credit report, companies can identify reliable potential business partners effortlessly.

CRIF joined Hong Kong FinTech Week 2021 as exhibitor.

How can CRIF further support companies to develop and enhance their digital transformation?

Besides being one of the major players in the business information industry, with an APAC database of more than 18 million companies, CRIF is one of the most relevant digital solution providers in the area, supporting banks, insurances and corporates to improve their digital journeys and processes. From our Hong Kong regional headquarters, CRIF is committed to serve the ICC community and help any company that might need:

To automate onboarding processes for individuals and even more so for companies, ensuring speed and full compliance with regulations and AML obligations.

To make use of alternative data to assess the risk of their partners and clients.

To implement an advanced anti-fraud system that leverages digital footprint to identify online fraudsters in real-time, at the moment of application.

To engage with customers in a more personalised way, making use of their account transactions information to identify the right proposal at the right time.

To monitor the ESG levels of their company or of their supply chain with a free global platform.

CRIF is excited to bring the partnership forward and to offer this wide array of services to the ICC community, with the aim of increasing business opportunities, avoiding risks in a challenging and quick-evolving market environment and improving the quality of services and products that our partners can offer to their customers.

Catering specifically to:

Italian businesses that are interested in the Hong Kong market and other AsiaPacific countries.

• Businesses based in the Asia-Pacific region that want to know more about the Italian market.

• Companies across the Asia-Pacific region that are interested in investing in the Hong Kong market.

Thanks to a profound understanding of the market, Statista recognises which future trends we need to analyse and keep an eye on. Market reports aim to describe sectors of interest in order to help customers fully understand the business in the best way possible. Tailor-made market research needs time and attention. Our goal is to understand the client’s needs and offer the best overview possible.

Sabatini of Rome marks its 30th year in Hong Kong

Sabatini Ristorante Italiano had opened its first Southeast Asian outlet in The Royal Garden, Hong Kong, in 1992 November. A Roman landmark during establishment for several decades, Sabatini is renowned for the quality of its food, the selection of its wines and the high level of its service and hospitality.

First opened in a 700-year-old building in the picturesque Trastevere area of Rome in 1958, Sabatini is still currently managed and presided over by the Sabatini family.

Sabatini relies on good basic products, cooked simply in a traditional Roman style will olive oil, garlic and peppers, for its pasta, fish and meat recipes. The menu in Hong Kong is a replica of the original restaurant in Rome and includes seabass, minestrone and scampi dishes among its most popular selections.

Mr Francesco Sabatini used to say that he kept things simple in Hong Kong and provided the same favorites beloved by Pavarotti, Yuri Gagarin, Frank Sinatra and Sergei Bubkov. He said their cooking was typically roman in character and they described the style as “La Mama”, based on dishes prepared in their family home.

International designers Hirsch/Bedner have designed and furnished the restaurant in The Royal Garden in keeping with the original in Rome. Traditional Roman murals and the coats of arms of the 13 districts of the Eternal City combine to recreate a little corner of Rome in Hong Kong.

The Roman influence is continued in the elegant silverware, glasses, porcelain and linen. A particularly Italian touch is provided by the specially commissioned tiles and ceramics from de Ruta, renowned for its handcrafted workmanship.

A fine new addition to the restaurant scene in Hong Kong, Sabatini has the added distinction of being the first to offer that truly authentic Roman flavor of simple food and excellent wine served in a happy atmosphere.

Sabatini offers traditional Roman cuisine in a picturesque setting which matches the parent restaurant in Italy’s capital city.

The Sabatini brothers brought to Hong Kong the same menu, wine list and relaxed ambience which distinguishes their original and much-loved establishment in Rome, founded over decades ago. Sabatini in The Royal Garden has hand-decorated murals, flatware and linen all imported from Italy for authenticity.

30 years ago, Italian cuisine was just beginning to be featured in top dining rooms in Hong Kong. Therefore it was an interesting challenge for me to come to this vibrant city and help make Italian food grow in popularity. Moreover, my Fiancé at the time (who is now my wife), is from Hong Kong.

When I met Mr. Francesco Sabatini for the first time, we had a long talk about this business and the philosophy of his restaurant. I understood right away that this was the winning formula, and got the proof of that as the years went by. Therefore, when you are doing something you believe in, and seeing the results, you see no need to look elsewhere.

There are indeed many fond memories after so many years, like meeting lots of famous people, such as politicians, actors, movie directors, singing a duet with Elmo from Sesame Street, but the thing that I like the most is to remember the happy faces of my regular guests from Hong Kong and around the world that come periodically to visit Sabatini.

What is your favorite memory of working with The Royal Garden and Sabatini?

What makes you stay in Sabatini for 29 years?

Why did you decide to come to Hong Kong?

A few questions for Mr. Diego:

Mr. Diego Bozzolan - Director of Sabatini

www.rghk.com.hk

Alea reinvents insurance with choice, unbiased advice, simplicity and a commitment to wellbeing – for individuals, SMEs & groups.

Alea partners with 25 insurance providers, local and international, offering hundreds of plans for every budget.

We listen to your needs, then we give you expert advice, so you can make the best decision. And we’re always here when you need us.

We shop the whole market to find the right insurance at the best price. Plus, you get personalised service and unbiased advice at no extra cost.

The Best Choice Easy & Human Save Time, Money & Worries Exclusive Perks For Your Employees

Become an Alea client and get exclusive offers on wellness products, plus healthy newsletters for your employees.

Alea believes in empowering our clients with unbiased insurance advice. Our job is to listen, care and fight for you regardless of your medical history. We are committed to helping you make the most informed decisions that benefit you, your family and your team.

We’re independent advisors, that means instead of focusing on selling products, our target is to understand your needs.

How would you describe Alea in 3 words? Why? Unbiased Simplicity

Alea’s aim is to disrupt the often confusing world of insurance. Finding the right insurance should be easy, fast, transparent and more human. Our team of advisors go out of their way to understand your personal needs, provide relevant advice and find the best solution for you.

Choice

Alea believes that you deserve choice. We compare hundreds of options from 25+ top insurers, helping people find the right insurance at the best price.

With us you can always change your coverage, through every season of your life as your needs evolve.

What do you love most about your industry?

It’s a privilege to assist people every day in making decisions for their best health. Our service doesn’t end when you sign on the dotted line. We provide ongoing information & support, with the latest in health and wellness.

As Hong Kong’s leading health & life insurance broker, Alea is improving how insurance is usually perceived and we bring something totally different to consumers, offering unbiased information, ongoing education, expert health & wellness knowledge and insights on healthcare options.

By focusing on health prevention and shifting the traditional model from cure to care, Alea helps people feel more empowered, protected, and get peace of mind.

We believe that knowledge is power. Alea helps people better understand their health and make the best use of insurance to enhance their wellbeing, too.

Develop a network:

It is helpful to develop a network you could tap into for guidance, especially during the first few years when you are new to the market. Of course, building a network takes time, but it has been a source of invaluable advice that we continue to seek out to this day. For instance, getting involved in various organisations like chambers of commerce has helped us connect with valuable contacts.

Communication is key:

Communicating is much harder than it sounds. When you live and breathe your business, most things that appear obvious to you may not be for others. If you can articulate clearly your mission, why you have chosen a particular direction, and what your expectations are, it is easier to delegate and grow your team.

Build credibility:

Made a conscious decision to first establish credibility, even if it meant having to wait longer to reap the benefits.

you have any advice for new business owners?

Going green and beyond

maximising green potential minimising carbon footprint

Nowadays, many companies are compiling green logistics strategies to diminish their carbon footprint and make operations more sustainable. As the world-leading security logistics company, Ferrari Group is a trendsetter for emerging green approaches within our premises and daily operating activities.

Ferrarigroup is aware of the adverse impact of climate change, we tried to quantify the greenhouse gas so we decided to widely adopt three environmental policies including electric vehicles, IT systems and renewable energy for our first planning.

We aim to develop an environmental system in accordance with international standards ISO 14001, we are certified with ISO 14001 environmental management systems since 2014. Ferrari’s Go-Green approach is to minimise the use of paper (paperless policy) across all the offices, we follow the digital and electronic direction, invested heavily to ensure our technology and systems can easily be integrated through simple APIs, and developed the IT system with customised IT solutions to streamline cooperation with customers, either by establishing electronic data interchange with clients’ ERP resources or by providing web tools (digital platform) for tracking information about the shipments departing from Ferrari offices and related documents. Our web-based tool is a unique solution designed to improve the customer experience with the Ferrari network, optimising and simplifying the basic processes, and allowing the customer to request services and view updated information directly on the system. By adopting an electric IT system to complete the delivery procedure, like using an e-signature to sign on our delivery device instead of signing on the traditional paper delivery note. Our IT platform with the

devices can transmit shipment data, transfer e-documents and communicate with our overseas offices under EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) in a timely way. We target to eliminate the use of paper and gashouse emissions.

Pursuing the objective of contributing positively and safeguarding the environment, environmental protection, thereby becomes one of the key-value in the Ferrari group. Green logistics calls for an integrated approach rather than a focus on one part of an operation. We have the vision to make changes across the entire operation, creating a company culture of sustainability. Thus, we applied for the New Energy Transport Fund (NET Fund) by the Hong Kong Government in 2018 and we were selected to be part of it! We developed our Ferrari green vehicle team to perform the last mile delivery and use clean electrical energy during its business activities in Hong Kong.

Ferrari green vehicles give ZERO carbon emission and ZERO noise pollution. We use an electric semi-security van for pickup and delivery to cut down fuel energy usage, and also continuously evaluate the fastest route and nearest way to optimise the delivery journey. By further economising the energy usage, with these little steps, we believe that it can provide a greener and more pleasant environment for the citizens through zero-emission technology other than catering to our logistics needs.

Our vision: Deliver Solve Evolve in the green ecological way

In the near future, we line up a set of environmental strategies to ensure the protection of the natural environment:

The group plans to use environmentally friendly fuels instead of traditional fuels such as biodiesel for trucks and natural gas for vehicles.

For environmental health and ecological impact of logistics activities, we are targeting to reduce pollutant fuel toward our environment such as periodic and methodical maintenance of the vehicles used to transport goods. Warehouse Automation can help Ferrari expand its warehouse service area to another level, it’s the process of automating the movement of inventory into and within warehouses. On the other hand, we are adopting photovoltaic (PV) systems on the roof to collect renewable energy for our warehouse.

Although we have put our effort into optimising the delivery route, when a delivery fails, we have to attempt re-delivery – which will double the carbon emissions. By sharing with our clients a live tracking link through automatic SMS notifications, we can ensure they’ll be there to receive the parcels or allowing our clients to choose a timeslot delivery with their preferred delivery schedule

We only use recycled and recyclable packaging for all our shipments

Inpursuance of showing our group commitment to evolve green transportation and determination to reduce carbon emissions, Ferrari Hong Kong has a clear timeline for upgrading our whole delivery van team in green, we expect to have an additional 5 electric vans serving our customers by 2023 and purchase 10 more in 2025. By 2050, the whole fleet will be upgraded to new energy trucks.

Throughout the years, we are accomplishing an inseparable bond with our customers and earned stronger loyalty from them, who gravitate toward choosing their business partner to bespeak a commitment to sustainability, with our “Never stopped participating in Earth Hour and advocate green” ideas, we are constantly reducing the usage of electricity and other resources, striving to achieve environmental friendly and protection to save our earth and our next generation.

Hong

Kong has reached a new milestone in the popularisation of new energy vehicles in 2022. One in three private cars registered was electric in the first half of 2022. At the end of June 2022, we had about 32,600 registered electric private cars, accounting for about 5.0% of the private car fleet in Hong Kong. The first electric double-deck franchised bus was put into service commencing in 2022 and the Hong Kong Government is liaising closely with franchised bus companies (FBCs) to set out the details of a trial for hydrogen fuel cell electric double-deck buses planned to be conducted in 2023.

The Hong Kong Government released the “Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050” in October 2021 aiming to achieve carbon neutrality and zero vehicular emissions before 2050. Transportation makes up of about 20% of carbon emissions in Hong Kong. Thus, we spare no efforts to promote zero carbon transportation while exploring how to reduce carbon emissions from generation of electricity, energy saving, etc.

The Hong Kong Government announced the “Hong Kong’s Climate Action Plan 2050” in October 2021

Embracing the Era of New Energy Vehicles

– the Hong Kong Story

Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles

Replacing conventional vehicles with electric vehicles (EVs) can help improve roadside air quality and promote zero carbon transportation. In this connection, we announced the first ever “Hong Kong Roadmap on Popularisation of Electric Vehicles” (EV Roadmap) in March 2021, setting out the long-term policy objectives and plans to promote the adoption of EVs and their associated supporting facilities in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Government announced the first EV Roadmap in March 2021

The key measures include ceasing new registration of fuel-propelled and hybrid private cars in 2035 or earlier; promoting trials for electric public transport and commercial vehicles with a view to setting a concrete way forward and a timetable around 2025; expanding the EV charging network and promoting its marketisation; training of EV technical and maintenance practitioners; and formulating a Producer Responsibility Scheme for retired EV batteries. The Hong Kong Government will also take the lead to use more EVs.

Promoting the Adoption of Electric Private Cars

A growing trend in the proportion of EVs in the newly registered private cars since 2019

Offering financial incentives is one of the major initiatives taken by the Hong Kong Government to promote the use of electric private cars. To avoid stimulating an overall vehicular growth while promoting the use of EVs, the Hong Kong Government since February 2018 has introduced the “One-for-One Replacement” Scheme (the Scheme) under which car owners who scrap and replace their old cars with EVs could claim a higher first registration tax concession. The cap of the Scheme was raised to HK$287,500 in 2021. Since its launch

till June 2022, the Scheme has benefited over 90 per cent of the first registered electric private cars, and over 20,000 fuel-propelled private cars were scrapped under the Scheme.

Hong Kong has registered a rapid growth in the number of electric private cars in recent years. The EV penetration compares well with other economies in the world.

Promoting the Adoption of Electric Public Transport and Commercial Vehicles

Promoting the adoption of electric commercial vehicles has met with different challenges since the battery capacity of the vehicle models has to cope with the demanding operating environment in Hong Kong that requires air-conditioning all seasons and has hilly terrains. Therefore, we are conducting or preparing trials together with the transport trades through the HK$1.1 billion New Energy Transport Fund (NET Fund) or specific scheme targeting electric taxis, public light buses and franchised buses to test the technical and commercial viability of different types of electric commercial vehicles for use in the local environment, so as to identify the best option for Hong Kong.

Expanding the EV Charging Network

We encourage EV owners to charge their EVs at home, workplace or places they travel regularly. The public charging network mainly serves as supplementary charging facilities, enabling EVs to top up their batteries to complete their journeys when necessary.

Public Charging Network

The EV Roadmap has set out the target of having at least 5,000 public chargers provided by 2025, and plans to double the number in future. With the allocation of HK$120 million in 2019 to add 1,000 medium chargers at government car parks in three years, there are over 5,000 public chargers owned by the Government and non-government sectors now, meaning that we have achieved the aforementioned target for at least 3 years in advance.

Besides, we launched the “EV-Charging Easy” mobile app in June 2022 to provide

To support the popularisation of EVs and in anticipation of the declining demand in the auto-fuel market, we are also formulating the corresponding long-term strategy which includes, among others, to gradually convert some existing petrol or liquefied petroleum gas filling stations to quick charging stations.

Private Charging Network

For existing private buildings, we have rolled out a HK$2 billion EV-charging at Home Subsidy Scheme (EHSS) in October 2020 to subsidise the installation of EV chargingenabling infrastructure in car parks of existing private residential buildings. In view of the positive feedback, a further injection of HK$1.5 billion has been approved to extend the EHSS for 4 years to the 2027-28 financial year. The whole EHSS is expected to support installation of charging-enabling infrastructure for about 140,000 parking spaces in about 700 car parks of the existing private residential buildings and estates, accounting for about half of the eligible parking spaces in Hong Kong. This will allow car owners to install EV chargers of their choice at their residences in a simple and easy manner in future.

For new private buildings, the Hong Kong Government tightened the arrangement of gross floor area (GFA) concessions in 2011 to only provide full concession to underground car parks that have EV charging-enabling infrastructure installed at each car parking space. Over 73,000 parking spaces have been approved for GFA concessions by March 2022.

Way Forward

As EV technologies are rapidly evolving, we will review the various strategies and targets of the EV Roadmap around every three years. We are also actively studying overseas experience and examining the feasibility of adopting some proven measures to the local environment in formulation of our EV policy, taking into account technological, environmental, social and economic developments.

In addition to EVs, the Hong Kong Government will also collaborate with FBCs and other stakeholders within the next three years to test out hydrogen fuel cell electric buses and heavy vehicles.

The Environmental Protection Department (EPD) is a department under the Environment and Ecology Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administration Region. The EPD is responsible for developing policies covering environmental protection, nature conservation; enforcing environmental legislation; monitoring environmental quality; providing collection, transfer, treatment and disposal facilities for various types of waste; advising on the environmental implications of town planning and new policies; handling pollution complaints and incidents; and raising awareness and support in the community for environmental initiatives. These responsibilities are spread across six programme areas, including “Air”, “Environmental Assessment and Planning”, “Nature Conservation”, “Noise”, “Waste” and “Water”. For details, please visit our webpage: https://www.epd.gov.hk/epd/ english/top.html

Trial of an electric light goods vehicle under the NET Fund

The first double-deck electric bus has been put into service in Hong Kong in 2022

The Hong Kong Government launched the “EV-Charging Easy” mobile app in June 2022

information on locations and real-time availabilities of EV public chargers, equipping EV drivers with handy information about the real-time usage of public chargers.

promisesSmooth Aromatic Authentic

Protect your internet privacy and improve cybersecurity

> Revise privacy settings on social media accounts

> Social media platforms are one of the places which is most prone to leaks of personal information. Not only do users tend to overshare when posting recent updates about themselves, but also do not realise the details on their profile pages are available to the public by default. So, make sure to set the privacy settings to “friends only”; or, better yet, avoid oversharing and remove all unnecessary personal details from these platforms.

> While most messaging softwares offer encryption options, most of them are “encryption in-transit”, not “end-to-end”. That means the content is still accessible by service providers. End-to-end encryption ensures that apart from the sender and receiver, no one else can access the data being transmitted. When sensitive information is involved, this feature is particularly important when choosing messaging application. Whatsapp, for example, uses end-to-end encryption.

>When connected to an unprotected public wifi network, the personal data from your device and online activity are prone to stealing and leaking if malicious hackers are present. Using a VPN would not only replace your IP address with the service provider’s, but also mask the unique ID, namely M.A.C. address of your device. This way, users with bad intentions would not be able to either access your local data, especially sensitive information like passwords; or know your whereabouts.

> 2FA, also known as 2-factor authentication, is a technology that provides an extra layer of security by requiring a form of verification to ensure it is in fact you when logging into an account; on top of the basic password. Among many different methods, two of the most common are biometric authentication and entering an OTP (one-time passcode) you receive from the platform. Although most bank apps already have 2FA turned on by default, it is worth opting in manually even for other platforms with this feature, such as email apps and social media, if not yet already. This prevents bots and hackers from accessing your accounts and potentially exposing your data.

> Phishing scams are becoming more prevalent nowadays and it has never been easier to fall for the ever-evolving tricks that scammers keep coming up with. While most scams present themselves quite obviously with fake URLs and sender names, at some point you would still probably fall for one as some are meticulously designed to manipulate you. Even though the latest email and messaging apps are quite competent in filtering out spams and scams, it is still important to keep an eye out for messages from suspicious addresses or numbers and always cross check the URLs and reviews from credible sites before giving out any sensitive information, such as bank details and ID number.

Everyone is part of IWA!

IWA is a non-profit association in charge of organising get-together activities, sharing experiences, and raising funds for local charities, to support people in need.

To reach this goal, IWA’s Committee relies on the help of all its members, who generously share their time, skills, and ideas.

Inthe last few years, some activities, such as hiking and cooking classes, have become a monthly recurring event for all the people who were able to join.

Hiking is organised by our member and counselor Elisabetta, who is guiding each month the Association to the discovery of Hong Kong’s lush nature. It is a quite popular appointment to spend a few hours in good company, keep in shape and get to know new people while exploring Hong Kong’s horizons.

On the other side, cooking classes are headed each time by a different IWA member, who volunteers to cook and teach a different dish, either related to a special occasion or to her own region.

Another well-established activity is the Bookclub, led by two IWA members: Lucia and Cristina. This is a monthly appointment with interesting readings, and engaging

talks among the participants who share different perspectives and opinions from the same book.

IWA’s response to Covid’s restrictions has been in the spirit of creativity and resourcefulness: members have organised special classes and unique sales, to raise money at a very challenging time.

Our members and yoga teachers - Federica B. and C., together with Giuditta and Marina - made themselves available on different days and times to offer more opportunities to join a series of wellness appointments, as a way to release and unwind the body and mind, in a period of stress and uncertainty.

The artistic skills of our member Mellina, helped many others to reconnect with some of their left behind hobbies, such as embroidery, sewing and painting, which are often left aside due to our busy everyday life, but very soothing in times of quarantine and lockdown.

Thanks to our member Manuela, a make-up artist, IWA has been given the chance to focus on inner and outer beauty, giving valuable advice on lotions to use and everyday make-up products to carry. Our members learnt how to design day and evening makeup, together with some precious techniques on how to better enhance charm and appeal.

Simona and Elisabetta headed a series of lectures on the secrets of a healthy diet, teaching how to balance daily all the different nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fibres, macrobiotics, legumes and plants. When in person classes were possible, appointments took place in our member Federica’s living room, followed at the end of each lecture by a final tasting prepared by our skilled chef Elisabetta.

On top of that, IWA organised special sales of handmade products, food and clothing.

Our member Alessia, using different fabrics, has designed and created beautiful handmade bags, pillows and Christmas decorations, while Lucia made her home available for a whole day dedicated to clothes and accessory swapping. A single event with double the benefits: giving your wardrobe a second chance and raising money through the sale, swap or donation of clothes to IWA.

Another big success was the bake and sale of sweets, and oven products, led by our bread makers and chefs Friederike and Marina. Together with the help of other members, they offered to cook focaccia, muffins, quiches, chocolate eggs, Easter and Christmas cakes, biscuits and pies and provide for their sale and distribution. All the proceeds helped IWA to support a local charity which is also serving meals to the homeless.

While we look forward to offering more exciting activities, we would like to thank all the people, who were actively involved in the events, who attended the classes or bought the products IWA sold.

Everyone played a role in helping more and more charities!

Everyone was part of IWA!

Bakers from Discovery Bay selling their handmade products

Manuela Costantini teaching a make-up class

A day of clothes and accessories swapping Alessia Dal Moro creating a cake holder bag

The Dangers of Big Data in Retail

While big data and AI are significatively changing how retail does business, all that glitter is not gold, meaning improperly managed data can bring more harm than benefits. There are four major dangers for retailers to be considered when leveraging the power of big data.

1. Privacy laws compliance

Further to the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that came into effect in 2018, California, Brazil, and South Africa have all enacted privacy laws applicable to the private sector.

More and more US states have severe and comprehensive consumer data privacy cases under review; Canada is working on a bill that, if passed, would be one of the world’s most comprehensive laws on personal data protection.

Hong Kong’s Personal Data Privacy Ordinance, enacted in 1996 as one of the first data privacy laws of its kind, was amended in 2012 with talks of new developments on the horizon.

It doesn’t matter if personal data are collected on a brick-and-mortar venue or online e-commerce, privacy compliance has become a global issue and is getting a sensitive topic, thus strictly enforced. Without going into specific countries’ details, this means that:

• Only certain customer information can be collected

• Stored personal data have a maximum retention period

• Individuals can request their personal information to be disclosed and deleted at anytime

• There must be a detailed written data protection policy to which any entity processing those data should adhere

• Data security needs to be guaranteed by all reasonable means

On one side, these limits imposed by privacy regulations reduce the effectiveness of data analysis and increase the cost of processing for the improved security required. On the other side, the risk of a data breach, a successful customer complaint, or a privacy authority investigation grows as data grow, let alone if personal data processing is not fully compliant.

In a hyperconnected and globalised world, there are strict regulations about storing or processing personal data outside the region where

they are collected. So for instance, it has recently happened that Google Analytics was banned in Italy, France, and Austria because personal data were flowing to the US. Similarly, a store in Hong Kong, collecting personal information about a Canadian customer and sending data to the Italian headquarters should pay extreme caution.

2. Security

There’s no 100% security in IT; sooner or later, a malicious event is going to happen. Moreover, the retail sector is not renowned for its cybersecurity standards, not being as high as in finance, healthcare, or aerospace (where data are way more sensitive), with many notable cases like the Costco breach last year.

Security should be intended more as IT risk mitigation than avoidance to minimise damages due to cyberattacks, inside data leaking, or systems’ failure data loss.

All the above events might have a few consequences:

• Loss of business reputation towards customers, who see their data being lost, stolen or even made public

• Loss of money because of data corruption, or even worse, reserved data being made publicly accessible by competitors

• Lawsuits and investigations, the main reason being a lack of privacy compliance

There is, of course, a baseline of procedures besides the essential network security policies, to follow in order to achieve proper protection of the data. Each of them has a cost in terms of money or information loss:

• Pseudonymise personal identifiers; sometimes, however, missing relevant information

• Encrypt data at rest, which might imply additional software licenses and more computational power

• Be paranoid about backups redundancy, having onsite, offsite, and offline copies of any (encrypted) data

3. Misinterpretation 4. Failing expectations

In retail, data usually come from multiple and diverse sources. The benefits of big data are achieved through aggregation and correlation, by using a Business Intelligence Dashboard, or through further processing by an Artificial Intelligence Engine to obtain predictive outcomes.

For instance, in a typical shopping mall, data can be as vast as:

• People count from intelligent cameras

• People demographics from mobile network cells

• People density from wifi

• Cars count and demographics from parking cameras

• People spending behavior from loyalty programs

• Sales volume by shops tickets

If we consider that most venues have an online presence, we need to add:

• Website visits

• Online sales

• Loyalty portal accesses

Each data source comes typically from a different vendor, with further adjustments and accuracy: it’s common to have conflicting indicators when doing correlations. There’s no magic in IT and too big data, if not correctly handled and normalised, can be counterproductive.

It can also happen that correlation is mistaken for causation, with multiple sources sometimes showing a fake cause-effect trend, like an online marketing campaign leading to an increase in both e-commerce and offline sales.

A further example is when retail promotions are more - or lesssuccessful than expected: it may be because essential variables have not been considered, i.e., with so much data, the wrong KPIs have been used.

Retailers’ expectations of big data analysis generally fail because of two main factors: technology and bias.

It often happens that technology features and potentials are overestimated, and when applied, they are not able to provide the desired outcome. Data collected through passively scanning Wi-Fi devices – mainly smartphones – are a noticeable example.

While years ago, Wi-Fi analytics were beneficial to give detailed insights about the population inside a retail space, such as crowding factors, people flow, and returning customers, nowadays returning accurate data is pretty much impossible. In 2020, both Apple and Google updated their mobile operating system with a feature that randomises the network ID (mac address), making any effort to build a reliable analysis useless.

Every department of a retailer, from marketing to operations, from IT to finance, sets different business goals, which sometimes are not aligned, even if the ultimate purpose should be the company’s health and growth. Big data can reveal the conflicts among the different sectors, and if the top management is not involved enough, it often happens that whole projects, or part of them, are abandoned due to a biased view of an uncomfortable reality. For example, it may be the case that after setting up a crowding heatmap of a retail outlet, it comes out, despite the marketing efforts to convey customers to some areas, that they are not as hot as they should be: the leasing department then would question the issue, which would result in the heatmaps being cut from the project.

Guido Dolci Managing Director Ritail Limited

Ritail is a solution provider focused on the retail sector. We offer 360 degrees IT platforms for shopping malls, department stores, and fashion outlets, keeping a consistent and integrated ecosystem of software and hardware solutions with the Italian touch. For more information, visit www.ritail.hk

A member of the

In 2022, after years of considerable transformations in the retail market, with the physical channels even more connected with the digital, customers fully digitalised and the digital commerce that is the new normal, building a big data strategy becomes an essential backbone for every business even more for the retail industry.

What big data means in 2022

The definition of big data is “data that contain greater variety, arriving in increasing volumes and with more velocity”.

This is also known as the 3Vs – variety, volumes and velocity - put simply, big data is larger, more complex data sets, especially from new data sources. If you think about the current reality and how we interact with digital and physical channels you can simply understand how the 3Vs becoming bigger and more complex every day.

The retail market is one of the most stressed environments for big data due to its complex nature and the variability of channels involved. How to exploit this frantic world and how to build the correct environment to avoid losing this opportunity and evolve into a data-driven retail business? Let’s try to describe the 3 main big trends in data strategy in the retail market

Omnichannel experience and big data

Retail customers are the most critical source of data, and behaviour change could reflect a deep shift in a retail model.

Nowadays customer is in an “always on mobile” mode, which means always active on mobile to gather information from different digital sources, search for news, capture an instant of life as memory or as inspiration for their wish list, chat with friends, or only execute transactions.

Mobile become a customer tool that has shrunk the distance between online and offline and now the retail omnichannel strategy is focused on creating a frictionless experience between digital and physical touch points.

The challenge is to have a rounded and consistent experience online and offline. An experience that reflects the customer behaviour not only the brand’s main strategy. In easy words, if from online data we notice that customers are looking for a specific item or a specific colour on a retail e-commerce website, if they come in the store and they find immediately the same item, the conversion rate for sure will be higher.

This happened to a big DIY chain in the US that start to put at the entrance of their store not only the promotional products by also the ”#1 searched online”. Performance increased by 10% in 1 month.

Customers today are more demanding than ever, due to high competition and reduced brand loyalty, ensuring a proper online and offline brand experience is on par with ensuring a consistent quality product.

In-store digital transformation

To have an in-store digital transformation is not a new concept but so far the planning to have a digitalised and data-gathering store was only a secondary project for every new store.

The store is the data generator, a big data generator. Amazon knows it and their new concept stores Go, Fresh and Style are an example.

The experience for the customers is to go inside the store, fill the bag with the products needed and exit without a payment process. From Amazon’s point of view, the store is a big marketing and branding activity but also a huge data laboratory to collect tons of data from the behaviour of the customers from the first visit to the loyalty, and how the customer behaviour evolves.

The trend is not to have a fully automated store like Amazon but this example can suggest how the big data is evolving and how the technology can help to have a more clear idea of how the customer interacts with products and store layout.

From proximity or internal sensor, POS activity, window traffic tracker, voice recording and analysis for a real-time sentiment are only examples of how a store can become a big data generator and how the new store planning needs more attention on digital.

Combining near real-time data and customer behaviour made the fortune of the marketing agencies. The famous Pantene advertising campaign related to the weather forecast was one of the main examples of how big data can help a brand to have an effective marketing campaign.

But looking at the big picture we can understand that big data are not for one shot only, the combination of several sources internal and external allows building a data intelligence model that can support every decision, suggest product evolution and anticipate new customer trends.

Thanks to new technologies and AI tools switching from analytics to big data is becoming even easier and cost-effective besides the opportunity to become a data provider too, many “data generator businesses” like services providers and big retail chains start to sell their macro data, always following privacy regulation, to who want to enrich its internal data to have a deeper data set. For sure a big opportunity for many companies.

Big data is the answer: whatever the question is!

As we’ve seen today, there is a continuing and massive shift towards digitalisation in today’s world, both in the business and private sectors. Big data is and will continue to be, at the very heart of this push, influencing business decisions and pushing the envelope of technology ever outward.

Big data is already revolutionising many industries and will continue to do so in the future. The goal of every business is to implement the best big data trends that fit their goals, provide real-world answers and keep them ahead of the competition. No matter the industry, big data offers an amazing array of benefits if used and embraced correctly.

From retail analytics to retail big data

In the last 5 years, we saw a deep shift from retail analytics, usually generated by internal sources like CRM, sales and warehouse flow to retail big data that become “big” also thanks to external data enrichment. Big data in 2022 is becoming efficient if enriched with external data, data not generated by internal sources but data generate by sources with a strong affinity with our business.

Thanks to data enrichment, big data in retail changed the segmentation game. By providing more data, retail companies can narrow down the customer profile to very personalised needs. Effectively speaking to a segment-of-one, aka the customer directly.

Value Partners is a global management consulting firm founded in Italy in 1993. We assist leading international companies by providing strategic thinking, problem solving and accelerating decisionmaking and the implementation of changes. Our drive for innovation, our client devotion and the ability to make the client’s challenges our own represent Value Partners’ hallmarks.

In Asia, we have locations in Shanghai and Hong Kong, out of where we cover the whole of Asia, from Japan to India and Oceania. In the Region, we focus on the Retail, Fashion, Consumer and Industrial goods industries for MNCs; Financial Services, Telecom and Media for local services providers. We also have a long experience in serving Private Equity firms.

The Hong Kong office has historically been focused on bridging the cross-country needs of Asian and European multinational companies: we assist our clients in corporate strategy, opportunity assessment, market research, transaction advisory, operational efficiency, commercial effectiveness and digital transformation engagements.

Antonio Colaci Vintani Head of Digital Technology - Hong Kong Office Value Partners

KPMG’s Our Impact Plan:

Leading by example in ESG

Inthe transition towards a green economy, KPMG China is committed to decarbonising and reducing its environmental impacts along its value chain through policy change, strategy development and awareness-building programmes.

To support KPMG’s global climate goal to become a net-zero organisation by 2030, in April 2022, KPMG China released KPMG: Our Impact Plan | China FY2021, which highlights the firm’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments and progress across four key pillars: Planet, People, Prosperity and Governance. The Plan demonstrates the firm’s commitment to greater transparency and accountability for its actions and impact on society.

“This is a time of challenges – but it is also a time of hope. In the face of major challenges, such as ecological crises, the global pandemic and the continuity of civilisation, it has become more important than ever to create a world where everyone is safe, can grow together and have a future of shared prosperity,” says Honson To, Chairman of KPMG Asia Pacific and China. “As a leading firm in the industry, KPMG supports sustainable development and strives to lead by example, having committed to becoming a netzero carbon organisation by 2030.”

Protecting nature and fostering a sustainable future

In FY2021, KPMG China launched internal environmental policies to incorporate environmental considerations into our business operations. The firm achieved the first target phase by purchasing 100% renewable energy through renewable energy certificates. The carbon emissions were also reduced by 28.3% compared to our baseline in FY2019.

The firm also supported nature conservation programmes to restore freshwater, wetland and ocean ecosystems in partnership with nonprofit organisations, such as WWF, Conservation International and Shenzhen Mangrove Wetlands Conservation Foundation (MCF).

Respecting individuals and embracing diversity

KPMG China is committed to promoting an inclusive, diverse and equitable culture built on trust. The firm empowers women in the workplace and encourages them to take leadership positions. Women made up 42% of the firm’s leadership level (including partners and directors). 54% of newly promoted partners were female, while 30% of the board was female.*

The firm also strives to nurture a culture of continuous learning by providing abundant opportunities for employees’ personal and professional development. In FY2021, an average of 70 hours of training were provided for each employee.

In FY2021, KPMG China established the Next Generation Council (NGC) which offers a channel for young colleagues to express their thoughts and share their ideas about the firm. The NGC members conducted extensive research and proposed flexible working arrangements to the firm’s senior leaders. Last year, the firm was proud to be once again recognised as one of ‘China’s Top Employers’ by the Top Employers Institute, and one of the ‘Best Companies to Work for in Asia’ by HR Asia for five consecutive years.

“Our Impact Plan includes much more than just a static ESG report,” says Tracy Yang, Head of Our Impact Plan, Head of Corporate Affairs, and Senior Partner, Eastern and Western Region, KPMG China. “It is an evolving, living initiative which captures our ESG commitments and everyday actions so that we can truly lead by example. In this way, it helps us become more transparent and accountable for the impact we have on society.”

Bringing the value of ESG to the firm and the marketplace

In October 2021, KPMG made the global announcement to spend more than USD 1.5 billion over the next three years specifically to focus on the ESG change agenda. Through KPMG’s global ESG strategy, KPMG China is helping to address these ESG challenges head-on while also lending support for the ESG transformation of the clients, employees, and the firm itself.

To effectively operationalise Our Impact Plan, the China firm has further refined the governance structure led by the Head of Corporate Affairs, setting up working groups and appointing designated personnel to manage the four pillars under the Plan.

Further, to create value for clients, the firm has also appointed a Head of ESG to oversee the external ESG strategy and client services. With a seat on the board, the Head of ESG helps set the tone at the top and drive strategic discussions on ESG issues.

“ESG attracts a lot of attention because of the long-term business and social value it creates for companies,” says Wei Lin, Head of Environmental, Social and Governance at KPMG China, “By pursuing ESG, enterprises can build trust, promote departmental collaboration and business integration to accelerate growth, embed ESG concepts into their business lines and corporate policies, and ultimately improve their image as a responsible company.”

STEFANO FOSSATI DIRECTOR ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE HONG KONG & MACAU

and the

Design

Made in Hong Kong 2022: Memphis and the PostContemporary Object is a project commissioned by the Italian Cultural Institute of Hong Kong, in which Novalis Art Design provides concepts and guidance to university students at the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) to produce new furniture that shows a contemporary interpretation of the Memphis Group. The students’ projects will be shown alongside works by the Memphis Group at the 25 Years of Design exhibition from 31 August to 3 September 2022 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The ’Design Made in Hong Kong’ project was first launched in 2019 by Mr. Stefano Fossati, the director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Hong Kong, with the main goal of creating a working dialogue between Hong Kong and Italy in the field of design. The first edition of this project connected design students from three Hong Kong universities with three Italian designers, working closely through a series of seminars to design products incorporating themes that were crucial to the future of design. This culminated in the exhibition “Milan - Hong Kong Design: New Forms and Functions in Parallel with

Italian Iconic Works” (Hong Kong Arts Centre, 26th March to 4th April 2021) which showcased the prototypes and projects from the three universities, works by the three Italian designers (Federico Peri, Sara Ricciardi and Federica Biasi), and an “Italian Design Masters” section. The “Italian Design Masters” section was meant to provide visitors with a guide to Italian design pieces that had an impact on world design history, including works by Ettore Sottsass, Michele De Lucchi and Gaetano Pesce. This third sector was generously curated by Mr William Figliola, founder of Novalis Art Design gallery in Hong Kong.

It was the third part of the exhibition, dominated by the revolutionary style of Memphis design and the intuition of William Figliola, which inspired Design Made in Hong Kong 2022. The main partners of the 2022 edition are the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) and Novalis Art Design Gallery. Since 2022, students from HKDI have been developing furniture through seminars with Novalis Art Design Gallery and their HKDI professors, with the concept designed by Mr William Figliola. They have been tasked with creating a contemporary interpretation of the Memphis Group’s classic designs.

The Memphis Group was an Italian design movement founded by Ettore Sottsass in 1981 alongside Michele de Lucchi, Aldo Cibic, Matteo Thun, Marco Zanini, Martine Bedin, Nathalie Du Pasquier, and George Sowden. Active between 1981 and 1988, the Memphis Group defined the ‘80s aesthetic and greatly revolutionised the design world.

Memphis sought to rebel against the ‘uniform panorama of good taste’ of the time, where the principle of ‘form follows function’ reigned supreme. With Memphis, design was liberated from rationality, and entered the realm of poetry. Form no longer had to follow function. Design could be loud, colourful, whimsical, with clashing patterns. Objects were liberated from function and instead became visual objects rather than just tools or pieces of furniture.

The pieces displayed by the Memphis Group and their international collaborators were shocking: they mixed elegance and kitsch, playing with absurd and irrational shapes and using plastic laminates with patterns that simulate precious materials. Most of all, they introduced the pleasure of play into the rational language of industrial production. Love it or hate it,

the movement rapidly amassed public and press attention worldwide, and came to define the aesthetics of the ‘80s. More importantly, it expanded the boundaries of design, emphasising the expressive possibilities of design as a vehicle of communication, rather than just one of utilitarian function.

In the following years, the artistic approach to furniture design introduced by Memphis in the eighties, which was then adopted by a large part of the world, saw a progressive weakening of the more explosive and charged aesthetics of its product language, in favor of an eversofter chromatic mainstream.

Even as the scenario evolved in this way, Memphis always remained true to itself, keeping its vocation for the artistic hybridisation of everyday functionality intact. Today, the most effervescent soul of emotional furniture returns to appear once again in the contemporary visual scenario, awakened by native digital aesthetic languages characterised by bright colors and deconstructed geometries, according to an “insta-friendly” approach designed to look good on the small screen of a smartphone (as well as to encourage e-commerce).

The great opportunity that presents itself in Memphis today is that of combining the firepower of the visual languages typical of social networks (Instagram in the first place) with the cultural density of a brand that has made the history of postmodern design.

With this in mind, each student designed furniture that declines the aesthetic identity of Memphis in a way that is consistent with the brand and, at the same time, in line with the new aesthetic sensibilities native to digital networks, thus bringing the freshness of the new contemporary visual scenarios into the real product, defining a new contemporality in which the physical product speaks the language of the digital image, turning it into a “solid”, physically present element.

Project by HKDI students reinterpreting Memphis Group under the theme ‘Futuristic’

Project by HKDI students reinterpreting Memphis Group under the theme ‘Hong Kong Enjoyment’

Project by HKDI students reinterpreting Memphis Group under the theme ‘Play’, inspired by Hong Kong playgrounds.

“Music festivals in Italy”: The Webseries

Italy is a country where culture, nature, art, design, cuisine, and a unique lifestyle meet. These aspects are easily grasped by the eye of the visitor. But other, equally important elements, are unseen and invisible: among them, the Italian musical culture.

There are places where the visible and invisible treasures of Italy meet: these are the numerous music festivals punctuating the entire Peninsula, enriching both its main cities and its hidden towns with a variety of musical creations.

The Italian Cultural Institute-Hong-Kong and Da Vinci Publishing launches a web series of seven videos presenting to the global audience a selection among the most important Italian festivals of classical music. The project was created after an idea by Stefano Fossati, the current Director of ICI-Hong Kong, on the occasion of the celebrations for the bilateral diplomatic relationships between Italy and China happening in this year 2022 and the series is produced by Da Vinci Publishing, an Italian-Japanese company based in Osaka (Japan) and which, in recent years has conquered a leading role in the musical market, producing CDs of classical, contemporary and jazz music, and publishing musical scores by contemporary and earlier composers.

The seven festivals thus selected present themselves, their vision, and their distinctive traits in short videos, including a spoken presentation by their Artistic Directors and other distinguished members of the Festivals’ Boards, and fragments excerpted from the most notable performances of each festival’s past history.

All of these festivals are deeply rooted within the local reality of Italy and of its regions; some festivals identify themselves with a special city, or even with a special venue, while others take place in larger territories, and at times involve the whole territory of Italy, or even events happening outside its immediate boundaries.

For instance, the “Settimane Musicali al Teatro Olimpico di Vicenza” are deeply intertwined with the location in which they take place. This is the astonishing “Teatro Olimpico”, a real masterpiece of Renaissance architecture, built in the 1580s in Vicenza by Andrea Palladio. It is and remains the earliest roofed theatre created in modern times. As Artistic Director Sonig Tchakerian explains, the comparatively small size of the theatre, and the unique beauty of the building, all cooperate in creating an ideal setting for the musical encounters of some of the leading soloists who come together to perform chamber music.

La Sapienza - Rome

Musical season and its location also coincide in the case of the “Istituzione Universitaria dei Concerti” in Rome. In this case, the identity is between the artistic project, which is currently entrusted to Giovanni d’Alò, and the institution promoting it, i.e. the Università La Sapienza. “La Sapienza” is one of the reference points of Italian culture, with its top-class faculty and international student body. Music has been an integral component of the University’s cultural o er for decades. The unique intertwining of research, scholarship, and music found here represents a milestone in the Italian capital’s rich musical programme.

Larger territories are involved in the “Amiata Piano Festival”, which takes place in the globally famous region of Tuscany. Its most iconic image is its hills, frequently combed by seemingly unending lines of vineyards, producing some of the most famous and appreciated wines in the whole world. “Amiata Piano Festival”, focusing in turn on the piano and its repertoire, aims at offering delight to all senses: first and foremost to the sense of hearing, but also, and interrelatedly, to sight, smell, and taste, which are all caressed by the top quality of the Tuscan wines.

“Bari Piano Festival”, whose Artistic Director is renowned pianist Emanuele Arciuli, is also strictly bound to a place, but, in this case, to the city of Bari. Bari, in Southern Italy (Puglia), is a fascinating city where West and East meet. Possibly echoing the vivid contrasts in colour which characterize the city’s architecture and urbanism, the focus here is on the black and white of the piano keys. Some of the most important Italian and international pianists take turns on the festival’s piano stool, offering a unique panorama on the variety and richness of Italian and foreign pianism.

“BackTOBach”, organised by the Accademia Maghini under the leadership of its founder and conductor, Claudio Chiavazza, similarly involves a rather extended territory. Its centre of irradiation is the city of Turin, but its events involve the entire area of Piedmont, another of the Italian winelands. Here the focus is not on a particular instrument or genre, but rather on a composer: “BackTOBach” is the most important Bach festival in Italy, with a programme ranging from the major choral works to solo masterpieces performed by international soloists.

“Armonie della sera”, created and directed by pianist Marco Sollini, finds its unique identity in the strict cohesion between some of the most awe-inspiring cultural and artistic venues and classical music. The Festival’s events involve the entire Italian territory, and offer the not-to-be-missed opportunity to participate in a classical music concert framed by some of the most iconic palaces, churches, or natural monuments of the Peninsula.

The Peninsula seems perhaps too narrow for “Dimore del Quartetto”, an initiative currently led by Simone Gramaglia. In this case, the connection between “place” and music is, if possible, even tighter. “Dimore del Quartetto” offers to young promising string quartets the possibility of spending some time in a secluded space, where the beauty of the place and the concentration it offers concur in providing them with an ideal rehearsal space for preparing international competitions or major debuts. As a token of gratitude, the ensembles offer a concert in that same venue, thus igniting a virtuous circle of art, music, and beauty.

All this will be shown and demonstrated by the web series, which will be officially presented in November 2022, and which will be provided with English and Cantonese subtitles in order to reach the largest possible audience.

La Sapienza - Rome

San Nicola - Bari

Presented by:

Scenic View - Amiata

Aglione

(literally ‘large garlic’), Allium ampeloprasum var. holmense (also known as elephant garlic, Big Tex garlic or Tahiti garlic), is a gentle giant. Its bulbs are far larger than those of common garlic, and its aroma is far more delicate. It is considered a cultigen (a plant cultivated by humans and unknown in the wild), and some credit the Etruscans with first domesticating a wild bulbaceous plant similar to aglione, namely porrancio or porrandello, a mutated version of wild leek. The varieties holmense and porrum, leek, probably derived from a spontaneous mutation of porrancio, as demonstrated by genomic bio-molecular studies (Brewster, 1994; Engeland, 1991; Rabinowitch and Brewster, 1989; Stephens, 2003). The name allium may derive from the terms used by the Celts and Persians to indicate edible bulbs; another hypothesis

traces it to the Greek word aglis, meaning ‘clove’ or ‘segment’. Instead, the term ampeloprasum comes from the Greek ampelos, meaning ‘vine’, and prasios meaning ‘leek’, resulting in ‘vine leek’, a description attributable to its habitat (Tremori and Santiccioli, 2016). It is clear that aglione was historically cultivated in Tuscany thanks to an important figure: Peter Leopold of Habsburg-Lorraine, the enlightened Grand-Duke of Tuscany who drained the malarial marsh of the Chiana valley (Valdichiana), rendering its reclaimed soil rich and fertile, and built appropriate housing for its new inhabitants. Indeed, the leopoldina named after him is a historic type of farmhouse in Valdichiana: solid, with clean lines, it symbolised a new relationship between agricultural labour and human exigencies.

Aglione has now been entered by the Regions of Umbria (on 16 December 2020) and Tuscany (this February) into their respective Regional Biodiversity Registries, and likewise into the National Biodiversity Registry, since it has long been cultivated in certain townships within the valley of the Clanis, now Chiana: the great navigable river of Etruria, land of the Etruscans. These two regions have joined forces to obtain European PDO/PGI recognition for the Aglione of the Valdichiana, the historic area once defined by Leonardo da Vinci as “Lago di Val di Chiana” (Chiana Valley Lake). Classic aglione recipes in Tuscany include pici all’aglione; in Umbria, it can be served with ciriole from Terni, stringozzi from Spoleto and umbricelli: all elongated hand-made pastas made of water, flour and salt, widespread throughout central Italy and enjoyed with seasonings based on the area’s prized extra-virgin olive oil: our rural ‘poor dishes’, just as the ingredients in their condiments were ‘poor’. The farm wives of old often had to ‘invent’ in order to produce good meals, but with pici they attained culinary heights using two ingredients: briciole, meaning

Aglione has gigantic bulbs, is white, verging on ivory, and is almost spherical; its bulbs, slightly flattened at the poles, can reach 600-800 grams in weight, with far larger segments than those of ordinary garlic, weighing up to 70-80g and containing approximately six separate bulbils. Its fragrance and characteristically delicate aroma are due to the absence of allicin, a substance which instead produces the strong taste and smell of garlic when its bulbils are cut or crushed. A typical crop of the historic Chiana valley and part of the Orcia valley, a particularly productive territory for growing vegetables extending between the provinces Arezzo, Siena and Perugia, aglione provides health benefits and is truly delicious. Its fragrance is piquant yet delicate, because, as explained above, it contains none of the allicin responsible for garlic’s strong, pungent odour which can so easily cling to the hands; its sweetish taste makes it a valid substitute for classic garlic in any recipe, from pasta sauces to meat or fish dishes, but also on bruschetta; and it is easily digestible, a feature not to be overlooked by sufferers from acid reflux: indeed, one can hardly discern its aroma after the meal is finished. Some time ago, The Guardian published an article saying: “Giant variety known as aglione - kissing garlic - is milder, odourless, and easy to digest... the giant odourless garlic was prevalent in Tuscany but has not been mass-produced for four decades”, enumerating its main characteristics alongside its long neglect and recent rediscovery and resurgence thanks to farmers, local organisations and consortia in the Valdichiana.

‘crumbs’: stale bread, crumbled and saut ed with a drop of olive oil; and aglione. Aglione sauce was considered a ‘richer’ preparation because it contained tomato, and, more recently and in some areas, chillies.

over embers covered in ash, and then eaten with a slice of bread. ‘Big-head’ garlic, as it is also known, remains a niche crop in Italy’s national agricultural scheme. Inspiration for exploiting it better could come from the USA, more specifically Oregon, where the Elephant Garlic Festival, held each August since 1997, offers the chance to sample distinctive, local and whimsical dishes. Some American scholars believe that ‘elephant garlic’ was introduced by American troops returning from Italy after the Second World War. An intriguing detail: one of its peculiarities is that it produces no bad breath in those who eat it, being therefore dubbed ‘the kisser’s garlic’ or ‘lovers’ garlic’!

We should recall that many years ago, aglione was grown only for family use and its main purpose was not to flavour other foods (there often weren’t any), but to accompany bread: it was baked

Marilena Moretti Badolato Perugia Academician

Italy is a country where superstitions reign: from lucky charms to those always wearing the same clothes or shoes for big events... And let’s face it, you also have your own “just in case” rituals, don’t you?! The origins of such folk beliefs are the most varied: from Ancient Rome to our grandparents’ rural tradition. They have been handed down through generations, up to our days. And we bet in the future there will always be someone counting the misfortune years coming after breaking a mirror! For all the superstitious out there, we are here to give you all the useful tips and secrets to get rid of bad luck. We will go through the most popular beliefs, the stories behind them and most importantly, the remedies! Let’s find out some new dos and don’ts!

Travel Edition! Italian folk beliefs and superstitions -

100% Italian piggy bank

Our first pick comes from a region that is famous for its architecture, museums, wines and ... wild boars.

These animals are very common travel companions if you walk around the beautiful landscapes of Tuscany’s hills and the countryside area of Maremma. However, if you meet these animals in the wild, we strongly suggest you not get too close to them!

There is one specific wild boar, however, which you will definitely want to approach. It is a very rare example of “shiny nose wild boar”, and you can find it in Florence, more precisely in the Loggia del Mercato Nuovo (New Market). Once you are in front of him, make sure you touch his nose: good luck will immediately come to you! Would you like to make a wish since you are already there? The “Little Pig” fountain has you covered: simply put a coin on the statue’s tongue. If it falls through the little grill at his feet, your wish will come true!

If studying is not enough…

Time for our second pick: something very similar to the one we have seen before. In fact, it involves a statue and some touching, but this time there are some maths that come with it!

Let’s say that you are a high school student who wants to continue your career in one of the many great Universities in Italy. To do so, you will need some good grades, and some good luck as well. That is the main reason why thousands of students from all over Tuscany, precisely 100 days before their final high school exam, go visit the city of Pisa.

Here the original ritual would include touching a double-tailed lizard sculpted on the door of the Battistero (no longer accessible, unfortunately, due to “too much rubbing”) plus a pretty tricky “Devil’s count”. On the side of a wall next to the world-famous Tower of Pisa, you can find the so-called Artigli del Diavolo (Devil’s Claws). They are nothing else but teeny-tiny holes in the marble wall that are believed to have been left by the Devil himself while trying to climb on top of the building.

To obtain good luck and pass your final exam, the ritual says that you must be able to count twice the Devil’s Claws and obtain the same number both times. It might sound easy, but we guarantee that their number always changes! Try it yourself, and let us know!

Finding true love in Rome!

For our third entry, we go straight down to the capital of Italy. Right in the city centre. We already know what you are thinking: ROME –SUPERSTITIONS – LUCK – COINS. Easy! The Trevi Fountain! Wrong! Actually, not completely.

We ARE in front of the world-renowned Fontana di Trevi, but we are not here to talk about the three coins ritual. So, let’s move together a little bit to the side. The right side of the fountain, to be precise.

You will find a smaller fountain called Fontana degli Innamorati (The Lovers’ Fountain). This fountain is definitely not as magnificent as the one lying right next to it, but its story is just as fascinating. Just think that couples who drink water from this fountain will always be in love!

This belief comes from a very simple ritual, quite common among lovers in the past: the night before bidding farewell, usually when men left for war, the couple was supposed to drink this water from two different unused glasses and then shatter them on the ground. By doing so, they would seal their romantic pact and ensure their beloved return safe and sound from the front lines.

So, in case the Fontana di Trevi is crawling with tourists, remember this little tip for you and your partner!

Sending flowers to a statue?!?

Still, no one to take with you to the Fontana degli Innamorati in Roma? No problem, we got you covered on this one as well!

Head to Ravenna, a wonderful city in the northeast of Italy. After enjoying a visit to the Mausoleo di Galla Placidia followed by a bellyfilling crescione, look for the statue of Guirardello Guirardelli at the Museum of Art. According to the legend about this gravestone statue, ladies who want to marry within one year must kiss the statue’s lips.

Back in 1935, the Italian museum lent the statue to the Museum of Nice Arts in Paris. When the statue came back, the Pinacoteca director found out that it was so damaged it needed some heavy repairing. For this reason, he decided that the statue would never leave Italian soil again. To justify it, he also added that the statue had to be deep cleaned to remove all the lipstick stains that tourists had left on it. That was obviously a joke, but art lovers took it so seriously that they started believing that Guirardello Guirardelli’s statue had some kind of love powers.

And that belief continues today: every year, the museum receives tons and tons of letters addressed to the statue, asking to buy flowers to put at its feet to bless someone’s love!

Who wants to be Italian?

Having trouble getting Italian citizenship? Do not worry: if you follow our directions, we guarantee you will become an Italian citizen in no time. Plus, a very honoured one! To do this, first, you have to reach Gubbio, a town not too far from Perugia in the region of Umbria. Once you got there, look for the Fontana del Bargello, a small fountain right in front of the ancient Palazzo del Bargello.

Now it is time to do some warm-up: start with some stretching and get ready for some running. According to an ancient tradition, the tourist that completes three laps around the fountain, while getting completely soaked from water splashed by other people, will instantly acquire Gubbio’s Citizenship. In addition, you will also acquire the official title of Matto onorario d’Agobbio (Gubbio’s honorary lunatic), in which the word “matto” (lunatic) refers to the famous unpredictability and irony of Gubbio’s people.

The Big Eight — Dinosaur Revelation

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR, the Hong Kong Science Museum will specially present a large-scale dinosaur exhibition, showcasing eight original specimens of the most iconic fossil skeletons together for the first time. These specimens are extremely rare and have a high level of completeness. With novel curating strategies, the exhibition introduces the latest scientific discoveries in palaeontology, uncovers the revelation of the extinction of prehistoric species, highlights the challenges under global warming, extreme weather events and biodiversity loss, and hopes to inspire you to take appropriate action to help conserve our biodiversity and live sustainably.

(cited, https://www.discoverhongkong.com/eng/what-s-new/events/detail.id78746.the-big-eightdinosaur-revelation.html)

Date: 8 Jul - 16 Nov 2022

Kong Science

The world-renowned rugby tournament is back! Being one of the most anticipated and extravagant sports events, the Hong Kong Sevens is confirmed to be held in November this year after receiving the government’s approval. For those nonsports lovers, the pure adrenaline rush and hype of being in a passionate crowd in the magnificent Hong Kong Stadium alone are worth attending if you haven’t been. Not to mention the matches always leave you on the edge of your seats! Please make sure to check back on their website once tickets have started selling.

Kong

Immerse yourself in Japanese culture by going to workshops and events hosted for the Japan Autumn Festival in Hong Kong. With activities covering films, visual and performing arts, crafting, cuisine and sports, the festival not only celebrates Japanese culture but also provides the opportunity of appreciating and learning about it. Various types of events will be held at different times and venues, so make sure to check the details on the official website before making plans.

For all those tech lovers, you wouldn’t want to miss out on this!

Discover the most fascinating and innovative electronic products from all 5 tech fairs: ICT expo, electronics, lighting, outdoor & tech lighting and electronic Asia – all in Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (HK Phil) and Hong Kong Ballet (HKB) join forces to offer you a double premiere. Under the baton of HK Phil Resident Conductor Lio Kuokman, acclaimed soloists, dancers, two choruses and the HK Phil present the Asia premiere of HKB Artistic Director Septime Webre’s choreography of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. This epic performance will be preceded by

Song by HKB Choreographer-inResidence Ricky Hu Songwei set to music by J. S. Bach.

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