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Opportunities in Italy
Italy has a long business tradition and many Italian companies are market leaders and own well known brands all over the world. Therefore it represents an excellent business opportunity for foreign companies and organizations interested in developing plans for market entry or investment attraction.
There are at least 5 good reasons to consider Italy for your international growth:
1. | Large and wealthy market. Italy is the eighth largest economy in the World and the fourth largest in Europe in terms of nominal GDP. Considering only the manufacturing sector, Italy ranks eighth Worldwide and third in Europe. |
2. | Excellent geographical position. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy has a unique position to connect with the emerging markets in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. |
3. | Strong international dimension. Italy ranks 8th globally and 4th in the EU in the “2019 FDI Confidex Index” (FDI stock was about 445 billion USD in 2019) and it is one of the World’s ten leading exporting nations with over 525 billion USD of exports. |
4. | Constant innovation. Italy ranks second in the World for business innovation-oriented clusters. |
5. | Outstanding quality of products and R&D. Products “Made in Italy” are known Worldwide for their quality, design and style. The Country has also a long and acclaimed tradition of R&D excellence in many scientific fields, including medicine, biomedical technology, instrumental and precision engineering, robotics, micro-electronics, ICT, aerospace, new materials and nanotechnology. |
Aside from the most consolidated industries (fashion, automotive, furniture, food, etc.), Italy offers interesting business opportunities in the following sectors:
- Logistics. Thanks to the Country’s geographical position, able to intercept trade flows from/to Asia, the Balkans and the Middle East, logistics is one of the most interesting opportunities for foreign companies.
In Italy logistics represents 7% of National GDP and has very high prospects of growth. Italy has the fourth longest rail network and the second largest road network in Europe; it ranks second for maritime freight and first in Western Europe for passengers transport. Italy is at less than 3 hours flying time to reach all major European destinations and has 400 routes towards the five continents.
Life Sciences. Italy is one of the world leaders in Life Sciences, being the third largest industry in Europe after Germany and France, in terms of turnover and number of employees. In recent years, the Country has demonstrated a strong commitment to innovation and a rising expenditure on R&D. Italy’s companies cover the whole market spectrum, including Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, Biomedical applications, Bioinformatics, Biomechanics and Nanobiotechnology, integrated with traditionally strong Italian sectors such as Agro-Food, Chemicals and Textiles. Furthermore, the Country is home to several modern science parks, research centers, universities and incubators.
ICT. Italy is one of Europe’s largest ICT markets, with market value of approximately 31 billion euros in 2020 (source: Assinform/Netconsulting). New market drivers such as cloud solutions, internet security, artificial intelligence and digital Government are shaping the ICT industry in the Country, with interesting opportunities for foreign companies.
Tourism. Italy has always been a renowned and appreciated tourist destination at World level, notably for its absolutely unique art cities and immense historic-cultural heritage, its quality offer within outstanding natural and landscape beauty sites, as well as shopping opportunities and wine and gastronomic tours.
There are many other opportunities in other industries.
Executive Consulting is available to assist your company in exploring (and pursuing!) them.
