On December 13, Italy’s Steering Committee for Business Internationalisation, which defines every year the strategic guidelines and policy actions for the promotion abroad and internationalisation of Italian businesses, held its 10th annual meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Rome in hybrid mode.
For a heavily exporting economy such as the Italian one, the ability of companies to pursue an internationalisation strategy is fundamental, and so are the tools made available by institutions to support internationalisation processes. This is why institutional coordination on these issues is very important.
Co-chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Luigi Di Maio, and the Minister of Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti, the virtual meeting was also attended by the Minister of Economy and Finance Daniele Franco, the Minister of Tourism Massimo Garavaglia, Deputy Foreign Minister Manlio Di Stefano, the Chief of Staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Francesco Fortuna and the President of the Conference of Regions, Massimiliano Fedriga. they were joined by numerous other institutions and associations involved in supporting the internationalization of Italian companies, such as the Italian Trade Agency and investment bank CDP Group.
The meeting was also attended by high-profile guests such as Minister for Technological Innovation and Digital Transition Vittorio Colao, the Minister for Universities and Research Maria Cristina Messa, the Minister for the South and Territorial Cohesion Mara Carfagna, Vice Minister Teresa Bellanova and the Undersecretary for Ecological Transition Vannia Gava.
Directing the modernisation of production structures towards digitalisation and environmental sustainability, thanks also to the resources made available to the Foreign Ministry under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (amounting to EUR 1.2 billion) and for enhancing the entrepreneurship of young people, women and companies in southern Italy; promoting innovation and supporting start-ups on international markets; unlocking the potential of southern Italy with effective strategies and tools and a systemic approach: these are some of the lines of action outlined by Minister Di Maio at the opening of the work of the Steering Committee.
“Italian exports in the first nine months of the year – totalling almost €377 billion – not only increased by more than 20%, compared to the same period of 2020, but even exceeded the levels recorded in 2019 [€356 billion period over period], a record year for our exports. Italy’s performance is also better than that of European partners such as Germany and France“, underlined Minister Di Maio.
“We are proud of these results, which testify to the extraordinary vitality of our entrepreneurial fabric and of the entire Italian Production System. It is also a particularly significant result for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, following the taking on of new competences in foreign trade and business internationalisation inherited from the Ministry for Economic Development.”
In this regard, Deputy Minister Manlio Di Stefano emphasised the extensive preliminary consultation process by the Foreign Ministry in preparation of yesterday’s meeting, involving 14 sectoral working groups and no less than 158 entities and trade associations, which had been invited to submit useful inputs for the conclusive Steering Committee report and suggestions for the forthcoming activities for promoting “Made in Italy” brand products.
At the end of the meeting, a concluding document was approved. The meeting can be rewatched on the Ministry’s YouTube channel.
