The Ceylon Chamber of Commerce has signed a memorandum of understanding with Unioncamere, the Italian Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Handicraft and Agriculture, giving Sri Lankan businesses a direct institutional route into Italy’s chamber network.
The agreement “establishes a framework for direct engagement between the business communities of the two countries, with a focus on trade promotion, investment opportunities and business collaboration,” the chamber said in a statement carried by both EconomyNext and the Daily Mirror.
Planned areas of cooperation are business delegations, B2B matchmaking, knowledge exchange, and trade and investment promotion. The stated practical benefit is access: Sri Lankan companies gain a channel for identifying partners, testing market opportunities and establishing commercial relationships through Italy’s chamber system rather than approaching the market firm by firm.
Who signed, and where
The signing took place at Unioncamere’s headquarters in Piazza Sallustio, Rome, with Sri Lankan participants joining virtually, according to the Daily Mirror’s fuller account.
Unioncamere was represented by its president Andrea Prete and internationalization manager Pietro Infante. On the Sri Lankan side were Satya Rodrigo, Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to Italy; Dhawood Amanullan, Minister and Head of Chancellery at the embassy in Rome; Damiano Francovigh, Italy’s Ambassador to Sri Lanka; Shiran Fernando, Secretary General and CEO of the Ceylon Chamber; and Dushy Jayaweera, President of the Sri Lanka–Italy Business Council (SLITBC), who took up that post last week.
The Daily Mirror reports the agreement follows more than a year of engagement initiated by Daminda Mulgama, the SLITBC’s immediate past president, who pursued discussions with Unioncamere over an extended period including a visit to its headquarters. He also joined the ceremony virtually.
The Ceylon Chamber said it will work through the SLITBC to convert the agreement into actual business engagement.
Not reported
Neither filing gives a value, target or timeframe — there is no trade figure for the existing Sri Lanka–Italy relationship, no stated export goal, and no date for the first delegation or matchmaking event. Neither says which sectors the chamber expects to benefit, nor whether the MoU carries any funding.
A note on sourcing. Both filings reproduce the Ceylon Chamber’s own announcement rather than independent reporting, and neither carries a reporter byline. The two verified newsrooms here are two carriers of one statement, not two separate confirmations; the Daily Mirror’s version adds the venue and the attendee list, while EconomyNext’s is shorter.
