A MESSAGE FROM ICCO CANADA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CORRADO PAINA

the business community of Italian origin, as well as celebrating the Italian companies which have decided to come to Canada:

• Rosanna Magnotta: a monument to courage in life and in business, a model of ethics and leadership for today’s youth.

• Giulietta Restaurant: successful in a highly competitive field with a pro-active business model, demonstrating a creative approach and respect for the deep tradition of Italian gastronomy.

• Tony Cataldi: bringing to the table (an appropriate metaphor!) the strength, resilience and dynamism of the companies which are able to grow in the world of large-scale distribution.

Back in 1961, a few Italian entrepreneurs decided to band together to create the Italian Chamber of Commerce of Toronto. In other parts of the world, other Italian entrepreneurs followed suit. Today there are almost 80 head offices and nearly 50 branches of the Italian Chamber of Commerce spread all over the world.

The Italian Chambers Abroad Network has been created to offer a systemic service to Italian companies that are looking to make a move abroad and to foreign companies that wish to do commerce with Italy.

Globally, there are over five million Italian citizens and more than 60 million people of Italian origin, with the population of Italy totalling nearly 60 million. The Italian Chambers of Commerce make a point to reside, operate and make a difference within these business communities.

We have been an active member of the local community since 1961, with the foundations being set even before then (previously an Italian Chamber of Commerce was active in Toronto before the Second World War). Our mission: to work with local business communities of Italian origin and Italian entrepreneurs living abroad.

We have worked with many Canadian companies run by managers and owners of Italian origin, from construction companies to law firms, from importers and distributors of food and wine to innovation companies, from pharmaceutical factories to financial institutions.

Tonight, we recognize the best representatives of this community,

• Eataly: the temple of Italian food. Its owner Oscar Farinetti – in his biography recently published by Rizzoli in Italy – recognises our role in this successful company opening in Canada.

The story of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and of the Canadian Italian community is deeply intertwined. As a testament to this long history, we encourage everyone to purchase a copy of our latest editorial project, “Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow” which tells the story of the Italian-Canadian business community in the GTA from 1900 up until today.

Tonight, the edition of Pentola d’Oro, is a special moment, a platform as well as a bastion of the sparkling world of the Italian food and wine industry. These past sixty years are an account of a life-long dedication to the service of local companies, small, medium and large.

Without all of you – the entrepreneurs, the store owners, the importers, the distributors, the restaurateurs, the chefs – ICCO Canada would not exist. The Italian Chamber of Commerce of Ontario Canada (ICCO Canada) will be blowing out the candles on its 60th birthday not just to celebrate the past but to bring more light, more energy and more power to the future our inspirational community.

Thank you.

Corrado Paina