The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong is proud to announce that our new member La Cascina Ltd. Bel Vino hosted a wine night on August 13th from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm at Red Bar + Restaurant, Level 4, 2 IFC. There was a selection of tapas and wines.

Four Italian wine makers from four different regions of Italy presented 8 premium wines. The wine makers were: Enzo Zafarana from 'L Columbe (Piemonte), Sabina Maffei Polzner from Polzner (Friuli Venezia Giulia), Antonio Donato from Castello Ducale (Campania) and Patrizia Begnoni from Santa Sofia (Veneto).

The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce is a non-profit making organization of local Chinese firms and businessmen. It provides the business community a forum for exchange of business information and an avenue for fostering regional and international communication and promoting trade and commerce. The Chamber maintains close contacts with the trade associations and chinese chambers all over the world, in particular those in mainland China. It has been playing an active role in promoting external trade and attracting foreign investment in the Mainland. At present, the chamber has nearly 6,000 members, comprising association, company, individual and affiliate members, Member's business covers a wide spectrum of commercial and industrial activities in Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas.
The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce will host a Luncheon on 23rd July at 12:30 pm on the 8th Floor of The Chinese General Chamber of Commerce Building, 24 Connaught Road, Central. After the lunch, there will be a speech by the Consul General of Italy, Mr. Alessandro De Pedys, followed by a question and answer session.

A piano concert by Ms. Silvia Paparelli was planned for 29th June at 8:00 pm. The concert was held at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts’ Concert Hall. The name of the concert was Italiana: a celebration of piano music through opera, cinema and modern times. For more information please download the document below.

With grateful thanks to the Italian Consulate General in Hong Kong for providing the films, to our Sponsor Caben Asia Pacific Ltd for making the event possible and to Alitalia Cargo for transporting the films, Hong Kong once again had an Italian Film Festival. It was held at the Grand Cinema in Elements Mall, Kowloon Station MTR. Showtime was 7:30pm for all the films. The films that were shown are: Agata e la Tempesta (Agata and the Storm) on June 5th, Dopo Mezzanotte (After Midnight) on June 12th, Il Manoscritto del Principe (The Prince's Manuscript) on June 17th, Sfiorarsi (Gazing) on June 19th, Basta Un Niente (Before You Know It) June 24th and Il Vento Fa il Suo Giro (The Wind Blows Round) on June 26th. To inaugurate the Film Festival, a cocktail reception was held at Stormies in Elements Mall at 6:00 pm on June 5^th. 

The Italian Chamber together with the French Chamber invited Mr. Billy Yan Yu NGOK, Chairman, Hembly International Holdings Limited as speaker at a breakfast seminar on Wednesday 18th June 2008.   Established in 2000, Hembly has successfully transformed itself, in just a few years' time, from a supply chain business provider in the apparel industry into a leading multi-brand operator in the affordable luxury market in the PRC. Following the purchase of the Italian brand Bond Street and the option to buy Sergio Tacchini, the presentation focused on how this Chinese company has gradually developed its value chain and has progressively fulfilled its vision to become one of the first few Chinese international brand owners in the affordable luxury industry. The venue for the breakfast was the FCC, North Block, 2 Lower Albert Road, Central, Hong Kong.

 A Gala Dinner was organized on 6th June at 7:30 pm in the Island Shangri-la Hotel Ballroom.  The Gala Dinner raised funds to be donated to the charity organization “Football for  Life” (www.footballforlife.org). To honor the start of the Beijing Olympic Games we had as a guest of honor, the 1988 Olympic Marathon runner Gold Medalist, Mr. Gelindo Bordin. Football memorabilia were auctioned including footballs signed by Totti and Inzaghi and a Roma shirt signed by Totti. Italian jeweler Loffredo also donated a hand made piece of jewellery for auction at the dinner .

"Luxury Goods Between Art and Law" a cocktail seminar on the protection of intellectual property rights relating to luxury goods was presented by Italian law firm Franzosi & Associati on Wed. 16th April 2008 at 5.45 pm in the Harbour Room, Island Shangri-La, Pacific Place. Presentations were made by Franzosi Partners and Italian representatives of luxury product brands who also spoke of their experiences relating to intellectual property protection. Following the presentations there was an opportunity to talk to the speakers and mix with other participants at the cocktail reception.

The Hon. Jeffrey Lam, Legislative Council Representative and Dr. Willy Lam, Adjunct Professor at prestigious universities in Hong Kong and Japan were invited as speakers at a breakfast seminar on Tuesday 1^st April 2008.   Following the conclusion of the 10th National People Congress & Chinese People Political Consultative Conference held at the beginning of March, the Hon. Jeffrey Lam analysed the recent Chinese initiatives on sustainable economic development and, in the face of the sub-prime crisis in the US, how well will China be able to withstand its impact and where is China's economy heading and by what means. Dr. Lam assessed the prospects for economic and political reform, the political significance of the Olympics and the 30th anniversary of Deng Xiaoping's reform crusade.

Report on Joint Cocktails with ROSL

GIN AND IT?
ROSL and the Italian Chamber Mix and Match in Hong Kong

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong and the Royal Over-Seas League, Hong Kong branch (“ROSL”) have held a pair of very successful joint cocktails together in recent months. The first, organized by ROSL Hong Kong, was held on 26th October 2007 at Cipriani Hong Kong, the Italian private members’ club established by ROSL Hong Kong branch patron, Sir David Tang, OBE with Mr. Giuseppe Cipriani. Cipriani Hong Kong is part of the international network of Cipriani clubs. We were privileged to have the attendance at the cocktail of Sir David Tang himself and guests of honour representing Hong Kong’s Consular Corps, Mr. Alessandro De Pedys, the Consul General of Italy in Hong Kong, and Mr. Stephen Bradley, British Consul General, who is also a ROSL Hong Kong branch Patron. Mr. De Pedys gave a welcome speech to the participants, who toasted the event appropriately with Cipriani’s house cocktail, the famous Bellini (a delightful mixture of such unlikely ingredients as champagne and peach purée)!

On 28th February 2008, the Italian Chamber organized a reciprocal event on the IFC2 veranda of the Italian restaurant ISOLA Bar & Grill, against the backdrop of Hong Kong’s glittering evening harbour skyline. Mr. De Pedys once again gave a welcome speech to participants. ROSL Hong Kong President, Mr. Paul Surtees, also spoke as ROSL guest of honour. There was a truly international crowd present as could be heard from the buzz of languages and accents of the cocktail chatting, which echoed not only the tones of London, Rome and Hong Kong but also locations such as Montreal and Melbourne!

How did such different organisations as the Italian Chamber and ROSL pair up together? You may well ask! The idea for the joint events was born when Mr. Paul Surtees and I bumped into each other over a canapé and a drink in the first half of 2007. We were both attending the inauguration of our local Italian delicatessen’s new shop in Hong Kong’s Mid Levels district (Chamber Member Il Bel Paese)! Sharing a mutual gift of the gab and appreciation of the cocktail environment, we decided to bring together the members of the two organisations which we respectively represent. The result was as perfect a blend of different ingredients as the Bellini cocktail itself….!