Gaetano Fausto Esposito
Secretary General
Assocamerestero
Rome, November 15th, 2014
Italian Business Summit
Pina Costa
Head of Promotion, Communication
& Development Area
Assocamerestero

Italian Economy at a glance
 The backbone of the Italian economy is represented by the manufacturing sector, which generates approximately the 90% of exports value;
 The strongest manufacturing sectors are machinery
(which contributes for the 20% to Italian exports), clothing and textiles, organized in industrial clusters;
 The great majority (nearly 97%) of Italian enterprises have less than 10 employees.
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Italian Economy at a glance
 Italy is enlisted among the only 5 countries in the world to have a manufacturing trade surplus of more than 100 billion dollars (113 billion dollars, 2 nd in Europe after
Germany);
 Italy is one of the developed countries that maintained the most the world’s export shares of manufacturing goods (71%, 2 nd after Germany, in the same place with
US);
 Italy is ranked 11 th among the 20 world leading exporters countries.
Sources: 10 Truths about Italian Competitiveness,
Fondazione Symbola, Unioncamere, Fondazione
Edison; ICE-Istat Report 2013-2014
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Italian Economy at a glance
ITALIAN COMPANIES ARE AMONG THE MOST
COMPETITIVE IN THE WORLD
935 PODIUM
PRODUCTS
OUT OF 5.117
Source: 10 Truths about Italian Competitiveness,
Fondazione Symbola, Unioncamere, Fondazione Edison
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“Many people want to live like us, they want to be us, they want to dress like us, and they are willing to
spend money to do it”
Diego Della Valle, Owner of Tod’s & Fay
MADE IN ITALY IS:
 NOT A PRODUCT
 NOT ONLY A WAY OF LIVING
 A STATE OF MIND (ITALY FOLLOWERS)
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 The number of people that have Italian origin in the world is estimated in about 60 millions;
 People of Italian origin have contributed to the diffusion of Italian culture, traditions and lifestyle;
 That’s why Italian government recognized an important role to Italian communities abroad and to their aggregation forms.
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THE ITALIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE
ABROAD:
MAIN CHARACTERISTICS
 Free associations of Italian and local entrepreneurs and professionals: 70% of their 25.000 members comes from countries where the Chambers are rooted;
 Their mission is to promote trade and business opportunities for the Italian SME’s;
 Reference point for the support of economic and business relations between Italy and foreign countries.
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Europe: 29
North America: 9
Asia: 10
Central & South
America: 21
Africa &
Middle East: 6
 80 Chambers of Commerce
 54 Countries
 25.000
Members
 1.300 Administrators
 500 Employees
 45 mln euros Annual turnover
Australia: 5
 140 Offices
 300.000
business contacts generated per year
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 The Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad have a bi-national nature, fostering the economic interests of both countries - Italy and the country where they operate;
 Moreover, they are both associations of entrepreneurs and professionals/consultants and parts of the Italian promotional system of SME’s internationalization: this means that they are private business association but with an institutional vocation defined by an institutional frame.
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 Italian Chambers of Commerce network;
 Professionals and consulting companies;
 Small and medium enterprises, in Italy and abroad;
 Association of enterprises;
 International and Italian exhibitions organizations;
 Local institutions.
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THE ITALIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE
ABROAD:
MAIN ACTIVITIES
 Information and communication (advertising and media campaigns, publications, web site management);
 Training (specialized courses for business managers, courses of Italian commercial language);
 Business contacts (business scouting, fairs and trade missions, BtoB meetings, promotion of incoming/outgoing tourism);
 Enterprise Assistance (trade/industrial cooperation, legal aid, tax and customs information, market research);
 Networking events.
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THE ITALIAN CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE
ABROAD:
BEST PRACTICES
 Promotional activities: Eatalian Bio Project. Focus: promoting Italian biological and organic food in Australia and Japan. Activities: 6 promotional tours in Australia (Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney) and Japan (Osaka, Tokyo) with 2.000 participants involved; incoming importers, suppliers and media from Australia and Japan and business meetings between 150 foreign and Italian enterprises;
 Training activities: seminars, workshops & round tables on issues like international trade, IP, business law, with lawyers, counsels, executives;
 Technical & Advanced Assistance: lists of producers, importers, suppliers, selection of partners, corporate and financial information on potential partners, logistic assistance, facilitation of communications in negotiation stage with the support of consultants networks;
 Networking events: meetings with local business communities (law firms, business associations, opinion leaders).
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WHAT “VALUE ADDED” THE ICCAs
NETWORK CAN OFFER
 Identification of the more suitable and reliable business partners;
 Development of activities and projects with binational benefits;
 “Cultural mediation” in business;
 Coordination with all the institutional actors of the promotional system of SMEs internationalization;
 Strong ties to the Italian communities abroad.
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About 300.000 business contacts
2.000 promotional activities
Information &
Communication
10,4%
Training
6,1%
Business
Assistance
19,1%
Network
Activities
3,4%
Budget estimated: mln/euro 45
Business contacts
60,9%
 60,9% of services covers the development of business contacts between Italian and foreign companies;
 19,1% is represented by business customized assistance to
SMEs;
 10,4% refers to information & communication tools;
 6,1% is dedicated to training activities.
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THE ASSOCIATION OF ITALIAN CHAMBERS OF
COMMERCE ABROAD:
ASSOCAMERESTERO
Since 1987, Assocamerestero represents the
Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad
The ROLE of Assocamerestero:
 Information & Communication activities
(increase the knowledge and awareness on the
ICCA network among Italian and international
Institutions and business organizations; collaborate with Italian press and media to improve the network’s exposure);
 ICCAs Assistance & Promotion (organize training courses for their staff to keep high quality service standards; booster new business and institutional contacts to help the ICCAs increase their turnover).
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Assocamerestero - Associazione delle Camere di Commercio Italiane all’Estero
Via Sardegna, 17 – 00187 Roma
Tel.: +39 06 44231314
Fax: +39 06 44231070
@: info@assocamerestero.it
Web: www.assocamerestero.it