2015 marks a landmark for Fabio Morvilli and the Italian Chamber of Commerce with which he is intrinsically connected. Born in Rome, Morvilli arrived in Luxembourg in 1982 as the managing director of an Italian telecoms company and remained with them until 2002. While an Italian chamber covering Benelux had been in existence since the end of the First World War in 1918, it operated from Brussels and was not active in Luxembourg.

“So together with the Italian ambassador, we decided to create our own Italian chamber in Luxembourg back in May 1990. We were a little afraid at the beginning, since Luxembourg was considered a small country, but from a commercial point of view it made sense. And I have to say that after 25 years, we have reached a good position and that it was the right choice. We have a great team!”

That Morvilli has remained at the helm of the chamber throughout is noteworthy. “Everyone seems to recognise the fact that I really invest so much of my time in this, and I’ve always been re-elected for another period.” So what is the chamber’s main focus? “It’s both commercial and financial. We have a network of chambers in Italy to support anyone travelling from Luxembourg for business, and our job is to provide the same level of support to Italian companies wishing to reach Luxembourg.”

The chamber also encourages local placement of young Italian graduates in Luxembourg companies and banks. Together with the IFBL and PricewaterhouseCoopers, it offers two educational programmes: a master’s degree in international finance, audit and control and a second in private equity and investment funds. “As a result, more than 400 of the young people completing the programme over the last seven years have remained in Luxembourg. They’re very happy, as are the companies that employed them.”

With reason to celebrate, the chamber plans a 25-year anniversary conference at the Cercle Cité on 30 September in the presence of the Grand Duchy’s crown prince. In addition to Morvilli, scheduled speakers included the Italian ambassador and Luxembourg’s prime minister, deputy prime minister and finance minister, and mayor of Luxembourg City.