On Thursday of last week, during the 32nd gathering of the Worldwide Convention of Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad in the city of Colli del Tronto (Ascoli Piceno Province), the president of the Marche Chamber of Commerce, Gino Sabatini, announced the signing of a historic agreement between the Marche Chamber office and the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce in Houston, which covers Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Arkansas.
The memorandum of understanding outlining the two chambers’ partnership was signed by Marco Bruschini (above, left), director of ATIM, Marche’s Tourism and International Relations Association, and Brando Ballerini (above, right), president of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce (IACC Houston).
The agreement lays the groundwork for what will be a three-year partnership between the IACC Houston and the ATIM to promote products and businesses from Marche in the food and wine, tourism, and technology sectors.
The conference, which also included the Meeting of Directors of Italy’s Chambers of Commerce Abroad, was attended by 170 delegates from chamber offices across the world. Of the 84 chamber offices around the globe, 80 were present for the event, representing offices in 60 countries. Matteo Zoppas, president of the Italian Trade Commission; Valentino Valentini, deputy director of the Italian Ministry of Business and Made in Italy (MIMIT); and Raffaele Fitto, Minister for Foreign Affairs, the South, and the National Recovery and Resilience Plan, were also in attendance for the momentous occasion.
“While the volume and value of Italian exports increased in 2022, the number of companies exporting their goods abroad, and especially small businesses, dropped by 4.3 percent between 2016 and 2019,” noted Andrea Prete, president of Italy’s National Union of Chambers during his address.
“If we want to help Italian companies grow,” added Mario Pozza, president of the Association of Chambers Abroad, “we need to make an honest assessment” of the current business climate “and rethink solutions for the problems were are facing.”
This historic new agreement between the Region of Marche and the IACC in Houston will undoubtedly be a boost to Marche-based businesses who wish to tap into the Texas marketplace, one of the fastest growing states in the U.S. thanks to the state’s business-friendly and globally inclined policies.
