Ready to Save Lives With Your Tax Money? Italy is Calling!

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Please find below the call for help from the Embassy of Italy in Ottawa.

 

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[dropcaps type=’circle’ font_size=’70’ color=” background_color=” border_color=”]I[/dropcaps]Italy is living through one of the most difficult and painful times in its recent history.

Over 110,000 thousand sick, more than 13,000 dead, and some 4,000 persons in Intensive Care in critical condition.  Our healthcare system is under enormous pressure; our doctors and nurses are face-to-face with the impact of the pandemic every day, fighting the devastating effects of Covid-19. Many of them have been infected, over 50 physicians have lost their lives, but they are not giving up — they continue to answer the call of their country and its people with extraordinary dedication and generosity. 

The Italian Government is working ceaselessly to reduce the impact of the disease, by increasing the financial resources devoted to this battle and by searching the world for the health equipment needed to fill this unprecedented demand.  But it is still not enough; we must do more!

To help support the fight against this terrible pandemic and do our part, we have, together with the Canadian Red Cross, launched a fundraising campaign “Covid-19.AiutiAMOl’Italia!”. The funds we will raise will go directly to the Italian Red Cross, to support it and the Italian Civil Protection in their efforts to fight Covid-19.

Inspired by the love that so many of you feel for the land of your heritage, by the solidarity we have for those on the front lines of this battle, by the human bond we share with those men and women who are exposed to the disease and its fatal consequences, for the part of them that is in each of us, in support of all human lives…

If you would like additional information on the campaign, please visit the website at  http://www.redcross.ca/ItalyCovidAppeal/HelpItaly 

Together we will get through this!  With my most heartfelt thanks,  

                                                                                     Claudio Taffuri 

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FAQ

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Yes. Donations of $20 or more via cheque will be mailed a tax receipt.

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Your donation will help the most vulnerable in Italy make it through these uncertain times.

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For online donations, please click on the button below to be directed to Red Cross Canada’s donation page.

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If you would like to send a cheque, please make it payable to ‘Canadian Red Cross’ and write ‘COVID Italy/Help Italy’ in the memo section and mail to:

National Processing Centre
Canadian Red Cross
P.O. Box 39
Saint John, NB E2L 3X3

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On behalf of the Embassy of Italy in Canada, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude for your donation during these trying moments.

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ONLINE ITALIAN LANGUAGE CLASSES

The SPRING TERM of the Dante Italian Language School in Vancouver will run online for 11 weeks, from Tuesday, April 14th to Friday, June 29th, 2020 on Zoom platform.

Classes will be held once per week, for a total of 22hours. Classes will be from 6pm to 8pm from Monday to Thursday and from 10am to 12pm on Saturday.

 

About Our Online Lessons

All courses will be delivered ONLINE via Zoom. Zoom is an excellent video conferencing platform with plenty of features such as video/audio sharing and breakout rooms that allow for a fulfilling learning experience.

 

SPRING SCHEDULE

Please check out the language page or click here to view our spring schedule.

 

Fee

The tuition fee for each course is 230$+gst. The total after taxes is 241.50$.

 

Textbook

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All courses except for Conversation 2 and Advance + require the Nuovo Espresso textbook. If your course requires a textbook, you can buy a 1-year license to an ebook copy of Nuovo Espresso at this link.

 

Contact Us

Please note that our office is temporarily closed due the COVID-19 outbreak, you can reach us at
school@iccbc.com. For any further information please check our website.

 

Register

To confirm your registration please send an e-transfer to school@iccbc.com or call 778.953.1311 (2pm-5pm) to pay by credit card (Visa/Mastercard only).

 

We look forward to seeing you online soon!

ITALAMP COVID-19 Announcement

Please find below the Covid-19 announcement from our esteemed member ITALAMP in regards to accepting orders, order processing, and shipment.

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Dear Partners and Customers,

Following the provisions contained in the Ministerial Decree issued on Sunday 22 March, Italamp Srl announces the temporary closure of the Activity until Friday 3 April inclusive.

Shipments already scheduled will be guaranteed until Wednesday 25th of March.

The sales office and the technical office remain operational in “smart working” mode: for any information, we kindly ask you to write to:

info@italamp.com
export@italamp.com

New orders will be regularly processed and accepted during these days. Feel free to forward the purchase orders for obtaining a priority lane once the logistic service will be newly available.

Unless otherwise specified, the logistic service will restart on Monday 6th of April.

Italamp guarantees continuity of service by trying to respond to your requests.

We thank all the people who are working to allow us to return as soon as possible to our daily activities, waiting, do not hesitate to contact us for any information.

For now, LET’S STAY HOME, we’ll all be back soon.

Sincerely

Roberta Vitadello, General Manager

Italamp Srl

PRODUCTS AVAILABLE

The attached products are available for immediate shipment upon production re-opening.

 

[button size=” style=” text=’Download Latest Stock List’ icon=’fa-download’ icon_color=” link=’https://old.iccbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/STOCK-LIST_ITALAMP.pdf’ target=’_blank’ color=” hover_color=” border_color=” hover_border_color=” background_color=” hover_background_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=” margin=”]

COVID-19, Lombardia Region’s urgent international call for new medical devices

Given the SARS-coV-19 emergency, the Lombardy Region Procurement Office – the area most affected by the virus in Italy – has just launched an international call to find the medical devices necessary for health and socio-health facilities to face the next two months.

Here companies can find the list of materials required, for the protection of doctors and healthcare personnel. Among these, for example, protective suits, different types of masks, visors, devices for non-invasive lung ventilation, beds for intensive care units.

Those interested can contact the Purchasing Office of ARIA S.p.A. – the Regional Innovation and Purchasing Company or the central commission of the Lombardy Region – directed by Carmen Schweigl, to whom you can write to the email address gare@ariaspa.it.

Also, please copy us at iccbc@iccbc.com so we will be able assist all companies in the process, and facilitate communications in collaboration with the Embassy’s offices and Lombardy Region institutions.

 

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AbCellera,  a 2013 New Ventures BC Competition finalist, has been named to Fast Company’s prestigious list of the  World’s Most Innovative Companies for 2020. The list honours the businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and society.  AbCellera’s drug discovery platform searches and analyzes natural immune systems to deliver best-in-class antibody drugs, and currently it’s being used to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak. They’re leading a team of industry expert in  the Pandemic Prevention Platform program and working on discovering neutralizing antibodies that could ultimately be deployed to stop the transmission of the coronavirus.

On March 12, AbCellera and Eli Lilly and Company announced they have entered into an agreement to co-develop antibody products for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus. 

Within one week of receiving a blood sample from one of the first U.S. patients who recovered from COVID-19, AbCellera screened over 5 million immune cells looking for ones that produced functional antibodies that helped the patient neutralize the virus and recover from the disease. From this effort, AbCellera has identified over 500 unique fully human antibody sequences, the largest panel of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies ever reported. The next step is to screen these antibodies to find the ones most effective in neutralizing SARS-CoV-2. Many of these antibodies will be expressed in collaboration with partners at the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, and pending agreement with NIAID will be tested for their ability to neutralize the virus.

 

Content in this article is inspired by a feature on Innovate BC platform and AbCellera online news. 

INNOWWIDE Call for Projects – Deadline March 31st

Are you an innovative Italian SME with the ambition to develop a new and innovative product-market combination (or process or service) with a strategic counterpart outside Europe? Do you need to first check the technical, commercial, legal and socio-economic feasibility?

 

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada West is currently looking for Italian Innovative startups and SMEs to partner up in the call for proposals Innowide www.innowwide.eu (deadline for applications March 31st 2020).

INNOWWIDE – Viability assessment of collaborative and INNOvative business solutions in WorldWIDE markets, is a Horizon 2020 project that aims to fund at least 120 European innovative SMEs and start-ups to conduct Viability Assessment Projects (VAPs) in markets outside of Europe.

Each approved VAP will receive a fixed grant amount of €60,000, representing a maximum of 70% of total eligible costs (staff, consumables, equipment, subcontracting, others) which must be a minimum of €86,000. 50% will be disbursed at the beginning.

Viability Assessment Projects (VAPs) are a comprehensive and coherent set of preliminary technical, market, legal and socioeconomic assessments intended to validate the viability of international, innovative businesses solutions.

If you:

  • Are an innovative European startup or SME operating in ANY SECTOR;
  • Are looking at Canada as a potential market;
  • Save 70% of your budget for extra-European business development.

 

[icons size=” custom_size=” icon=’fa-hand-o-right’ type=’normal’ position=” border=’yes’ border_color=” icon_color=” background_color=” margin=” icon_animation=” icon_animation_delay=” link=” target=’_self’] Contact us today at ilaria@iccbc.com  to collaborate on a proposal together.

 

Resources

For more information please refer to the below documents.

[button size=” style=” text=’Guidelines’ icon=’fa-list’ icon_color=” link=’https://old.iccbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/INNOWWIDE-Call-2-Guidelines.pdf’ target=’_blank’ color=” hover_color=” border_color=” hover_border_color=” background_color=” hover_background_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=” margin=”]   [button size=” style=” text=’FAQ’ icon=’fa-question’ icon_color=” link=’https://old.iccbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/INNOWWIDE-Call-2-FAQs.pdf’ target=’_blank’ color=” hover_color=” border_color=” hover_border_color=” background_color=” hover_background_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=” margin=”]   [button size=” style=” text=’Download the Call’ icon=’fa-download’ icon_color=” link=’https://old.iccbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/INNOWWIDE-Call-2-Text.pdf’ target=’_blank’ color=” hover_color=” border_color=” hover_border_color=” background_color=” hover_background_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=” margin=”]

 

 

 

Support for B.C. Businesses Affected by COVID-19

In over 2300 responses to the BC Chamber’s COVID-19 Business Impacts Survey, eighty percent of respondents said that their “revenue and deal flow” is dropping – and almost 90% think it will continue to fall.

Business is asking government for three things above all else:

  1. To work with banks and lending institutions to offer zero-interest loans, load guarantees, or lines of credit
  2. to be more flexible around timelines for tax remittances;
  3. to enhance EI access or wage replacement for employees.

In response to the survey feedback, the government of British Columbia is working to remove red tape and get cash flowing to the business community.

In the meantime, some immediate measures have been announced to assist with SME’s liquidity, operational concerns, and business continuity plans.

[button size=” style=” text=’Visit BC Chamber of Commerce website for Latest Update on Available Resources’ icon=’fa-file’ icon_color=” link=’http://www.bcchamber.org/financial-resources-bc-businesses’ target=’_blank’ color=” hover_color=” border_color=” hover_border_color=” background_color=” hover_background_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=” margin=”]

Resources for Business

These resources are made available to mitigate immediate business costs. Note that restrictions may apply, so kindly defer to each organization’s website for details.

Financial Support/Relief

  • Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) has resources available including:
  • BC Hydro: The COVID-19 Customer Assistance Program provides customers the option to defer bill payments or arrange for flexible payment plans with no penalty. Customers are encouraged to call BC Hydro’s customer team at 1 800 BCHYDRO (1 800 224 9376) to discuss options.
  • CMHC is working to address mortgage payment difficulties. They’ve said on twitter that they are collaborating with lenders to allow payment deferral of up to six months.
  • Export Development Canada (EDC). In partnership with the federal government and Canadian banks, EDC will ensure customers impacted by COVID-19 have access to credit.

 

Operational/Staffing Support

  • Employment and Social Development Canada: Several measures are available to assist employees who have been laid off, or are unable to work due to quarantine. This includes: waiving the one-week waiting period for EI sickness benefits, and priority application processing for related claims.
  • Uber Eats: The company has created a support package to promote “contactless” delivery from local restaurants, which includes waiving delivery fees, and a daily payout option to assist restaurants with cash flow.
  • Work-Sharing Program: Work-Sharing is a federal government adjustment program designed to help employers and employees avoid layoffs when there is a temporary reduction in the normal level of business activity that is beyond the control of the employer. Temporary special measures have extended the maximum duration of work-sharing agreements from 38 weeks to 76 weeks for businesses affected by COVID-19

 

General Information

 

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We Are Here to Help. Coronavirus Zona Protetta Update

Above: Duomo of Milan would normally be filled with commuters, shoppers, and tourists at this time of year. This week it’s virtually deserted as travel restrictions have been implemented across Italy in the government’s efforts to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada West is close to its friends, families, members and collaborators in Italy during these challenging times.
During its millennial history, Italy has faced many challenges and its proud people have learned how to be strong and unite during times of struggle.
Our thoughts and prayers go to Italy right now, as we keep working to fight back fear and build a future of connections and friendship between Italy and Canada, especially when the Ocean between us feels even larger.

In its ongoing efforts to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus and protect the most vulnerable people in the country, the Italian government implemented severe travel restrictions across the entire country on Monday. These new measurements expand the red zone restrictions that had been put into place early Sunday morning to the entire country. With the new measures in place, Italian residents, except for emergency and work, are no longer allowed to move leave or enter cities or towns. All public gatherings and sporting events have been suspended and banned, all schools have been closed, international and domestic flights have been canceled, and the Italian government is encouraging citizens to stay at home and work from home if necessary.

Here at the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada West, our offices are open as usual as we keep supporting our Canadian and Italian members. We are monitoring the situation closely and recognize that many of our members and friends have family and friends in Italy who have been impacted by the new restrictions. And we are acutely aware of the fallout on Italian businesses, both in Canada and Italy.

Currently, we are working to obtain more information on how the restrictions (zona protetta) is being implemented and its effects. We are also closely following updates from the Italian government on relief efforts and the ongoing campaign to mitigate the continuing health crisis.

The Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada West is here to help: Please feel free to contact us for all information regarding your business with Italy to iccbc@iccbc.com or 604 682 1410. One of our staff members will be happy to speak with you and help you in any way we can.

In the meantime, please stay up-to-date with our social media channels where we will be publishing updates on the evolving situation.

AGM 2020 Notice & 2019 Minutes

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Members of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Canada – West will take place at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday,  March 19th, 2020 at 5:30 p.m via tele- conference system (details below) to transact the following Business:

Agenda
  1. Call to order
  2. Adoption of agenda
  3. President’s report
  4. Executive Director’s report
  5. Approval of Financial Statements as of December 31st, 2019
  6. Appointment of auditor
  7. Election Procedure for Partial Renewal of Board of Directors
    1. Appointment of Election Chair
    2. Adoption of election rules (see attached)
    3. Nominations for directors
    4. Election of Scrutineers, if ballot is required
    5. Ballot, if required
    6. Ballot Count
    7. Introduction of new members of Board of Directors
    8. Destruction of Ballots.
  8. Other business
  9. Adjournment

 

Please note that the AGM will be preceded by the Board of Directors Meeting at 5:00pm. 
 

Instructions to Join 2020 E-AGM

With the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak occurring, we will be hosting the AGM via tele- conference system. Below are the links for the AGM to be hosted on Zoom. 

You can either: 

  • Download Zoom App on your phone or laptop and then connect at the link below 
  • Dial in via telephone as indicated below.  
 

Join Zoom Meeting via Zoom App

[button size=” style=” text=’Download Zoom App and Join’ icon=” icon_color=” link=’ https://zoom.us/j/476425526?pwd=anQ4YjNTNzNNQ3M3U2EvOFgrT2E5dz09 ‘ target=’_blank’ color=” hover_color=” border_color=” hover_border_color=” background_color=” hover_background_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=” margin=”]

Meeting ID: 476 425 526 
Password: 672328 
Link: https://zoom.us/j/476425526?pwd=anQ4YjNTNzNNQ3M3U2EvOFgrT2E5dz09
 

Dial In to the Meeting

Telephone: +1 778 907 2071 CANADA (Vancouver) 

Meeting ID: 476 425 526 

 

Proxy Form

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Please note that the link to the teleconference will be active starting at 5.00PM, as we will be hosting the Board meeting previous to the AGM. 

If you are not able to join the conference, please fill out this Form of Proxy and return it by email to francesca@iccbc.com.

 

Need Assistance?

For any issues please text our Executive Director, Ilaria at 604 345 7405.
 

Kindly refer to the below documents for more information:

 

[button size=” style=” text=’Click here for the 2019 AGM Minutes’ icon=” icon_color=” link=’https://old.iccbc.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AGM_2019_vancouver_minutes.pdf’ target=’_blank’ color=” hover_color=” border_color=” hover_border_color=” background_color=” hover_background_color=” font_style=” font_weight=” text_align=” margin=”]

 

As some Italian towns are put on lockdown due to coronavirus, travelers are beginning to ask: is it safe to visit Italy? Assocamere has issued the following statement:

Italy: a safe country.

It is safe to live in Italy and it is safe to travel to Italy.

Assocamerestero offers “correct and transparent” information on the real impact on the whole Italian Coronavirus System, which risks lastingly damages to Made in Italy and tourism. The adoption of extraordinary preventive measures, such as the temporary closure of some places or the suspension of some events, represent precautionary measures that have nothing to do with the spread of the virus on Italian territory.

Here the link to know more