Message by Alberto Maria Martinelli, ICCS President

Dear ICCS Members and ICCS Friends,

On behalf of the Board of Directors, we would like to share some information about how ICCS is responding to the current challenges and how we will endeavour to support Italy and our members.

 Since the start of the Covid19 situation, the Chamber has implemented the necessary measures to protect the safety and welfare of our staff and members, in accordance with government guidance regarding social distancing:

• Networking events suspended since 10^th March;
• Chamber staff working from home since Monday 6^th April following a split operation which began 30^th March;  
• ICCS Board Meetings and ICCS Management meetings took place remotely (via remote communication tools)

ICCS is increasing its digitised offering, with Webinars in place of events, and we would welcome suggestions for future content.

Our Webinars will take place in the Asian afternoon time in order to allow participation from a European audience. As a result of the lockdown measures, we have seen a clear increase in interest and demand for information and training from Italy.

ICCS would like to thank you for your response to our Covid19 survey. We were privileged that HE Ambassador Raffaele Langella referred to it during his video with ICCS MD Giacomo Marabiso. The Chamber appreciate the continued support of the Italian Embassy in Singapore towards its activities and business mission.

Please continue to follow our updates on the ICCS Website and ICCS Social Media (LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook) and contact the Chamber staff to keep in touch with our Business community and our initiatives.

 The Chamber supports the Italian Civil Protection Agency donations to grant further economic help to fight the crisis in Italy. The Board Members and ICCS Management have collectively contributed on behalf of the Chambers. Please visit our social media and website for more information and donate generously.

Additionally, thanks to our ICCS Pharma Committee Chairperson Pierluigi Petrone, we have established a reliable and efficient channel to purchase sanitary products to be send to Italy.

We continue to show ongoing support of the Italian business community in Singapore and in Italy with the launch of our e-commerce / B2C project, focused on expansion in the Asian region. Do reach out to our ICCS MD Giacomo Marabiso to find out more details.

The success of our April 1^st Webinar on this topic, and the participation of over 60 Italian companies, is evidence that this project can help the resilience of Italian companies in their effort to keep the business going and employment level economically sustainable.

In line with Register of Societies recommendation the 2020 AGM is postpone and we will assess after 4^th May all possible options.

The Covid19 crisis is accelerating the impact and use of technology in our daily activities and the Chamber is ready to host it via remote communication tools.

However, in this constant changing environment we prefer to adopt a flexible attitude waiting the effects of the recent measures in place to consider the best possible formula for our AGM.

Huge thanks must go to the ICCS staff, Giacomo, Caterina, Min, Carola and Gina for their tenacious effort while ensuring the continuity of Chamber services despite the current challenges and disruptions.

Finally, a big thank you to ICCS members and ICCS friends for your support to our Chamber and our business community.

Warm and safe regards to you and your families.

Alberto Maria Martinelli

ICCS President