Assocamerestero, the association that brings together the 78 Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad (CCIE), private, foreign and market entrepreneurial subjects, and Unioncamere, presented the results of the Doxa-Assocamerestero survey "Internationalization and services of the CCIE: the voice of companies", on the occasion of the XXV convention of the Italian Chambers of Commerce at abroad which was held on Monday in Riva del Garda.
The study, conducted on a total sample of 2.028 Italian SMEs, of which 1.107 operating abroad, provides a 360-degree overview of the main characteristics, product sectors and market strategies of internationalized companies, which are also profiled and analyzed in relation to the activities carried out by the Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad in support of exports and business internationalisation. According to the survey, half of the internationalized companies that use the CCIE operate in the manufacturing sector. Of the companies that instead intend to deal abroad in the next three years and would do so using the CCIE, 44,4% belong to the commerce sector.
Looking at the internal organization of SMEs, those that turn to the CCIE appear more structured and organized and are characterized by operating abroad according to the logic of multilateralism. In fact, almost half of the companies (47,5%) are present simultaneously in 3-5 countries, a higher percentage for companies that use the CCIE than the average (equal to 43,3%), in addition a further 11,5% of companies positioning themselves on 6-10 markets.
On the other hand, as regards opening up to foreign markets, in 76,6% of cases, the SMEs that use the CCIE have a ongoing relationship with international markets and 72,3% of them have been carrying out activities outside the national borders for at least four years. Furthermore, with reference to the areas of interest, other conditions being equal, the companies that use the CCIE consider non-EU markets a priority for the development of their business (for 72,0% of companies) although the EU 28 remains the area in which they mainly operate (in more than 80% of cases).
The reasons that induce companies that turn to the CCIE to internationalize are multiple and respond, at the same time, to endogenous and exogenous factors. Among the most relevant external causes there is the identification of a more favorable context compared to the internal market for the development of its business; again, the availability of subsidies and financing (for 45,0% of companies) present abroad and more business-friendly regulation (38,0%). Among the endogenous factors that induce SMEs that resort to the CCIE to internationalise, however, there are contributing causes more closely linked to the growth of the company, such as the identification of market segments in which the demand for Italian products is high (37,6, 37,0%) and access to specialized and qualified know-how (XNUMX%).
The internal problems that hinder the development of the international activity of the companies that make use of the CCIE, in addition to the reduced availability of the necessary financial resources, result lack of knowledge of the opportunities offered by foreign markets (for more than half of the companies, 53,2%) and the lack of personnel willing to go abroad (49,0%) or equipped with the necessary knowledge (48,8%).
As for in general the type of services offered, SMEs ask the CCIE to whom they mainly address: market orientation (72,3%); search for partners/suppliers (66,2%); consultancy on customs matters (58,9%) and contracts (57,9%). Furthermore, the more complex the operation that companies carry out abroad, the more the CCIE are identified as a trusted and qualified interlocutor on foreign markets. In fact, companies choose to be supported by the CCIE above all to activate transnational partnerships on the subject of R&D/technology transfer (36,5%) and to locate part of the production process abroad (one third of companies, 33,7%); and carry out their business activity through a subsidiary (37,3%) or thanks to direct presence with branches and commercial joint ventures (37,2%).
If we look at the use of the various promotion bodies, the companies that choose the CCIE (almost half of the internationalized companies that know the network choose it), resort to a greater extent than the average also to the services of other subjects, such as for example the ICE Agency (58,4% against an average value of 41,5%) and the Italian Chamber of Commerce (even 68,5% against 50,2% of internationalized companies), bearing witness to how the Chambers of Commerce , in Italy and abroad, represent a consolidated system able to support the company by decoding its needs and helping them to ensure that internationalization is a conscious and productive choice.
“These data should make us think. It is important for a company, when it decides to focus on exports, to define a medium-long term strategy that allows it to operate effectively on foreign markets - he says Gian Domenico Auricchio, President of Assocamerestero –. To do this, it needs to make use of qualified and reliable partners who accompany it in the delicate and complex internationalization process, directing it with targeted actions and interventions. In this context, being a community of companies at the service of other companies, the ability to work on a multilateral level on 54 markets and to create stable and lasting relationships with local counterparts, represent the added value of our Network, which we offer to all advantage of the internationalization of small and medium enterprises”.
