ROME – Bringing Italian and Canadian entrepreneurs and workers closer together as easily and quickly as possible, even in times of Covid. It is one of the new, main challenges of the Canadian Chamber in Italy, a non-profit association active for years in Rome, which today is ready to relaunch its business with a strengthened management, starting with the new president Caterina Passariello – one of the most promising emerging faces in the world of young entrepreneurs and project manager of the business consultancy firm “Euromed International Trade” – and vice president Domenico Letizia, journalist and analyst from Caserta, one of the most active authors of research and insights on the blue economy, fishing and Canadian geopolitics. The goal of the new leaders: to work in full continuity and unity of purpose with the previous management, but with the contribution of young forces and new ideas to continue to grow the network between companies, associations and institutions along the Italy-Canada axis.

“I am honored and motivated – explains Caterina Passariello (in the pic) – in taking on this important role. In the business context in which I operate, we have been following for years the countless existing and potential commercial and cooperation opportunities between Italy and Canada to achieve mutual benefits in terms of investments, growth and export flows. We will work to continue to promote and increase these new meeting opportunities, also through support for CETA, the free trade agreement that has led to an increase in business and contributed in the last year to limiting the negative effects of the Covid emergency ” .

President, what do you think are the main opportunities – and in which sectors in particular – that Italy offers to Canadians and, vice versa, Canada to Italians? “There are numerous investment opportunities that Italy offers Canadians. Often the word Italy is immediately associated with tourism, art, culture and agri-food, which are certainly sectors of excellence, but there are other sectors in which the beautiful European country is at the forefront: design, fashion, manufacturing, artisan production and goods of luxury, machinery, agritech, circular economy and renewables, pharmaceuticals, maritime industries, automotive and wood, to name a few. Canada, on the other hand, boasts cutting-edge performance and important numbers in sectors such as aerospace, sustainable construction, fishing and blue economy, food processing, as well as ensuring constant success for everything related to Made in Italy. In short, we have an abundance of material to work on increasing the network and exchanges between the two countries “.

What support can the Canadian Chamber provide in both directions? “Our structure can accompany, through our partners, Canadian companies to get to know Italy and the main players in its economy through the sharing of constantly updated sectoral analyzes and focuses, intermediation with local institutions, the organization of B2B meetings, workshops and missions, and support in the promotion of Canadian companies at major national and international fairs. Italian companies will also be accompanied, with the operational support of our partners, in Canada through ad hoc export plans, based on specific needs, and contact with North American realities within a network that we aim to make ever more vast and incisive. Ours remains a non-profit mission that aims to consolidate relations between Canada and Italy “.

The coronavirus emergency has drastically curbed people’s movements: do you think we need measures to encourage them, to encourage the movement of entrepreneurs and workers between the two countries? If so, which ones? “We are certainly starting from a difficult situation. The first measures to be taken start with ourselves: patience and trust, so that we can leave this health emergency behind and return to travel safely, and the maximum exploitation of new technologies as a means of contact and knowledge. There are important distances between Italy and Canada, but these can also be overcome in the post-Covid era with the enhancement of online meetings, virtual fairs and other tools that we have known thoroughly in the last year, and that will help us to break down spaces. times and costs. Together with this, it is also necessary to invest in air connections between the two countries, in mutual promotion and in the role of intermediation companies like ours, which can bring entrepreneurs and workers closer together more quickly and easily through a base of previous knowledge and experience built over time ” .

The words of Vice President Domenico Letizia (in the pic) are also significant: “Canada is a continuous discovery. A country at the center of profitable diplomatic relations, which pursues universal values ​​of the rule of law and protection of human rights, committed to innovation policies in terms of green economy and for the development of corporate organizational processes that respect the environment, the ocean and of the dignity of persons. Being able to develop synergies between Italian and Canadian companies, universities, study centers and NGOs is a dream to be realized, first of all, for the economic and educational growth of the Italian and Mediterranean SME fabric ”.

Best wishes to the new board from the outgoing founder and president, José Salgado: «I express my congratulations for the renewal and relaunch of this reality, which I am sure will continue to operate with incisiveness in the development of fruitful relations between the two countries we love. I hand over the baton to a new board made up of young and brilliant forces who will bring added value to our cause in terms of ideas, innovation and farsightedness ».

For more information: https://www.canadianchamberinitaly.com/