President's Memo

Dear members, associates and friends,

At the beginning of this endless pandemic, many of us thought that history was being recurrent. The “course and recourse” of Croce’s memory was once again inducing us to find patterns. Our first naïve thought was “here we are again, already seen with SARS, yet luckily not that deadly”. Instead, we’ve been again reminded that history does not repeat itself, being just little humans running in circles, while Mother Nature is helping us to grow with new lessons. If it is true that the quality of our lives is proportional to our ability to live comfortably with uncertainty, we certainly found a playground to practise in.

Your Italian Chamber is no exception, despite the difficulties and a renewed Executive Committee and operating team, we feel we are managing the many transitions of these times in an orderly fashion, ready to adjust to constantly moving targets. Our pipeline of events and initiatives for the summer and especially the Autumn season is long and intense, and we hope and look forward to receiving your support and participation.

Last but not least, we want to extend here our very best wishes to our departing Consul General and honorary President of ICC Mr. Clemente Contestabile. From the deck of sailing boats to the soccer pitches on weekends and as a gifted speaker on many occasions, Clemente made us proud of being Italians. Despite the difficulties he was always there, close to all of us, smiling and attentive to everyone’s needs, delicate while authoritative and inspiring especially in difficult times.

It was a privilege to have met you Clemente in your capacity, we are happy to imagine that you will bring your unique humanity to warmly lead other Italian communities around the world in the coming years.

Sincerely, Ivano

Ivano Poma

President of Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong & Macao