While exports once again prove to be the only engine of the Italian economy, the preparatory work of the States General for exports continues, the national conference which will bring together in Rome, on 28 and 29 October, all the protagonists of the Italian thoroughly discuss issues and criticalities of our entry into foreign markets.
The press release (which we report below) by the Hon. Polidori, undersecretary for economic development with responsibility for foreign trade, demonstrates once again (if ever there were the need) not only that exports represent the most incisive item of GDP, but also that all Italian regions, even those in greater economic difficulty, participate in the increase of this item.
In this sense, the States General for exports can truly be a point of reference for understanding how we can identify a growth path for our exports even in such a difficult situation for our public finances. Because this is the basic problem: finding solutions and tools at no cost to solve the unresolved issues of our foreign trade and relaunch a stable presence in the main countries where it is possible to grow in turnover.
We have missed the train for many years, in which - apart from the renewal of Sace - nothing relevant has occurred in the rules and instruments on the subject of internationalization of Italian companies. We have stood still, and the world has moved on at an impressive pace. Now we need to go back to the beginning and ask ourselves not only what are the difficulties of the present, but above all how to overcome them. Until ten years ago, we thought that an internationalization support system meant spending a little money on contributions to our companies that exported or invested abroad. Today this is no longer the case, because there is no more money, and we need to replace it with ideas. This is what the General States are for exports: they should not be a funnel for past grievances, but a starting point for a growth path for our presence on foreign markets. Not a cahier de sorrows, but a factory of ideas. We will return to some of these ideas in the next few days.
We enclose the summary documents of the six tables on which the work of the States General for export will be articulated, as well as a fact sheet on the economic situation.
FOREIGN TRADE: POLIDORI, EXPORTS MORE INCISIVE THAN THE GDP
In the first half of 2011 all the Regions experienced positive growth rates
Rome, 12 September 2011 – “Italian companies, from North to South, are confirmed as credible and competitive and exports therefore remain today the item that contributes most incisively to the formation of our gross domestic product. This was stated by the undersecretary for economic development, Catia Polidori, commenting on the foreign trade data of the Italian regions for the first half of 2011 released today by Istat.
More in detail, according to the data processed by the economic observatory of the Ministry of Development, all the Regions have experienced positive growth rates. In particular, sixteen Regions out of twenty recorded double-digit increases, four of which (Sicily, Liguria, Puglia and Lazio) even exceeded the 20% threshold. Not since the first half of 1995 has there been a simultaneous growth in exports from all the Italian regions.
From a territorial point of view, the distribution that, in relative terms, has grown the most is the South with a +17,3%, while in absolute terms it is the North West, which has seen its sales abroad increase by over 10,1 billion euros. Lombardy (+6,9 billion euro increase) and Piedmont (+2,5 billion) were the driving forces behind North-Western Italy.
"We continue in this direction by concentrating every effort to support our businesses, especially the smaller ones, in reaching even the most distant markets and becoming a "multi-market", i.e. differentiating outlets and thus guaranteeing a greater number of consumers", Polidori points out . ” The preparatory working tables for the general statements of foreign trade on 28 and 29 October go exactly in this direction: to elaborate the experiences, proposals and innovative ideas of entrepreneurs, institutions and the government, in a great team effort support of made in Italy”. –
13.09.2011
