Dear Members and Friends of ICCI Queensland,
2020 Recap
With 2020 rapidly coming to an end, on behalf of the Board of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland I want to offer our best wishes to you and your family and friends as we all gratefully gather to celebrate Christmas and the New Year.
2020 has been a quite extraordinary (and for some, unbelievably difficult). Let’s hope that 2021 is a year of recovery and success for Business, here and in Italy. Let’s also hope that it can be a time for families to reunite and build a better future.
As the new President and Board we were faced with great uncertainty this year. Despite that, my most endearing memory is seeing the enjoyment of our Members and their guests attending our functions during this disrupted time. The response to all our events has been heart-warming and a real tribute to those that laid the foundations of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Queensland. Financial expectations were initially poor, however we are expecting a strong result to close the difficult year.
We are currently in the process of renewal of memberships, and I ask all current members to please attend to this pre-Christmas if they have not done so already. In respect of memberships this year, we have delivered a great result with unexpectedly strong growth in our membership base (across all categories of Classic, Corporate and Young members).
In 2021 we can all look forward to a year of Chamber events that will bring us all together to build relations between member businesses and build some strategic links between Italian and Australian companies.
Thank you
It would be remiss of me not to thank our wonderful and loyal sponsors that include Mapei, Ghella, Bertocchi, Maserati-Lamborghini, the Coffee Commune, The Port of Brisbane, Casella Family Brands, The Star Entertainment Group and Peroni and supporters that include Italiquore, Gerbino’s, Schiavello, Merlo Coffee and CopyCat who have stood by the Chamber in 2020. Our current position would be very different without their support.
To all the Italian entities, including:
- Our Ambasciatrice HE Francesca Tardioli and her staff at the Embassy;
- Italian Consul for Queensland and The Northern Territory, Salvatore Napolitano.
- The Italian Trade Commission (Particularly Paola De Faveri and her strong and dedicated team);
- Our fellow Chambers here and in Italy;
- Assocamerestero;
- All the Queensland-Italian community organisations;
- Immediate past President, Comm Hon Santo Santoro, for his advice and support during this year.
I give a sincere and strong thanks for unwavering support, advice and confidence in our path as “Una Squadra”.
I would like to offer a further, very heartfelt thank you to all members from our Board, our Secretary General and our Interns for your strong support of our activities. This is our 31st year as a Chamber, and perhaps the most challenging. With the swell of support you our Members and supporters consistently offer, we can face anything together.
Finally, I offer my personal gratitude to the Executive of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, which consists of Vice President Salvatore Gerbino, Treasurer Tino Arquilla, and Secretary General Federica Marinatto for their support in a difficult year of change.
We look forward to welcoming everyone to a Chamber event in early 2021.
Buon Natale a te e alla tua famiglia e Buon Anno.
Cav. Filippo D’Arrò
President of ICCI Qld
