A veritable Swiss Army knife of business economic development on the Côte d’Azur, the Italian Chamber of Commerce (CCI) is not only of interest to businesses.

Proud of its 150 members, the CCI is a comprehensive organization that develops the economy on the Côte d’Azur for the French, Italians and Monegasques alike. However, it should not be confused with the other CCI, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is a French organization.

What is the CCI?

The Italian Chamber of Commerce of Nice was created in 1997. As an association, its primary objective is to promote the installation of new Italian, French and also Monegasque companies on the Côte d’Azur by facilitating relations between the actors of the three countries. The converse is also true. As a connoisseur of the Italian market, the association also provides support to companies wishing to export to Italy.

Giacomo Rinaudo, in charge of the Consulting and Development part of the CCI, specifies that the association has for but ” to promote exchanges “. For this, the CCI proposes “ a business service, commercial support for communication, development and contact with the French market. »

READ ALSO: “Oltre il cibo”, the major exhibition around food in Ventimiglia

The CCI, increasingly present in Monaco

On October 6, 2021, the Monaco Economic Board (MEB) and the CCI signed an agreement to develop their relations and enable their economic cooperation. Second investor country after France in Monaco, Italy has 1,600 companies that dot the Principality, according to the CCI.

With this in mind, the two entities with similar missions have decided to come together to ” create synergies and organize business initiatives as the Italian Ambassador to Monaco, Giulio Alaimo, explains. Thus, each organization can easily consult the other, if necessary, and develop new economic projects between France, Monaco and Italy.

Benefiting businesses but not only

Obviously, companies are the first beneficiaries of the activities of the CCI. However, to develop the economic fabric, the CCI also wishes to promote Italy outside its borders. Through this mission, the CCI has developed numerous projects enabling the population to be certain of the safety and Italian authenticity of services or products.

In addition, Italian and French language courses are offered to individuals and companies with the advantage of being flexible in terms of timetables and of issuing the Certificate of Knowledge of the Italian Language (CELI).

Plenty of projects

The most interesting project for Riviera tourists is without a doubt online guide: Visit Italy. This proposes to discover 20 cities more or less close to the Côte d’Azur through their gastronomy, their emblematic places and their history.

It can sometimes be difficult to find your way among all the products that are supposedly Italian or that are surfing the wave of Made in Italy. To help individuals decelerate good food from bad food, the CCI has set up an online “MangezItalien” grocery store in which it is possible to order directly from an Italian producer in order to receive his products at home.

Many other projects exist. From the census of Italian grocery stores on the Riviera, to the Ospitalità Italiana label which gives Italian designated restaurants from the Côte d’Azur, via True Italian Taste which promotes IGP and DOP products (equivalent to French PDOs), the CCI is full of ideas leading straight to the DolceVita.