COUNTRY PROFILES
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ItalyCapital Currency Population EU status GDP Employment Government type Religions Languages Exports Imports |
COUNTRY PROFILE
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Italy |
Print articleItaly is a country which is very open to outside cultures, and foreign brands. Therefore it presents a huge opportunity for foreign investors,” said Adolfo Guzzini, MD of iGuzzinie Illuminazione, in an interview with italTrade two years ago. Since then, Italy has lost nothing of its attraction. It is a country with a reputation for sophisticated, high-spending consumers who appreciate quality and are open to new ideas — as proven by the high market penetration of wireless technology and mobile phones in recent years. With a market of almost 60 million people, and the fourth-largest GDP in Europe, Italy has plenty to recommend it.
 Architect Renzo Piano’s design for the old port has become a popular tourist attraction |
Opportunity ICT
One of Italy’s biggest success stories at the moment is its role as a location for foreign investment in ICT. The market is currently worth around �80 billion, making it the fourth largest in Europe, and has an expected growth rate of 4% over the next two years — well above the Italian average. Between January 2002 and April 2005, 32% of US FDI in Italy was ICT related.
At a seminar held in Palo Alto in January, Italian minister Lucio Stanca announced that specific funding measures amounting to �3.4 billion have been made available to enhance the ICT sector across Italy. He also highlighted the recent approval of a high-tech fund to stimulate the participation of venture capital in specific business projects in the south of Italy, including those in the ICT sector.
Manufacturing
Important sectors with growth potential include the automotive and aerospace industries.
Logistics
Italy serves as a logistics hub for the Mediterranean area. The port of Genoa, which is due to undergo a major expansion over the next few years, is an important entry point for goods from Asia, and a transit location for Southern and Central Eastern Europe. In total, there are more than 148 ports along the coastline, and more than 160,000 businesses active in the transport sector — which has seen strong international investment over the past few years, and continues to offer investment opportunities.
Location support
Most industrial production is in the wealthier northern and central part of Italy. The south suffers from much higher rates of unemployment, and in parts from a less developed infrastructure. Accordingly, additional investment incentives and assistance with set-up costs are available to companies locating in the south or in less-popular areas of central and northern Italy.
La dolce vita
Italy’s quality of life is second to none. Cuisine, landscape, cultural activities, offer opportunities for both personal relaxation and for successful investments in the tourism and leisure sectors.
Facts in brief
Italy’s location is Southern Europe, a peninsula extending into the central Mediterranean Sea, northeast of Tunisia. Strategic location dominating central Mediterranean as well as southern sea and air approaches to Western Europe
 The interior of the pantheon in Rome |
Its climate is predominantly Mediterranean; Alpine in far north; hot, dry in south
Natural resources include coal, mercury, zinc, potash, marble, barite, asbestos, pumice, fluorospar, feldspar, pyrite (sulfur), natural gas and crude oil reserves, fish, arable land
Agricultural products are fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, sugar beets, soybeans, grain, olives; beef, dairy products; fish
Industries include tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics
Diplomatic representation in the US — Chief of mission: Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta
Diplomatic representation from the US — Chief of mission: Ambassador Ronald P Spogli
Contact Information
American Chamber of
Commerce in Italy
Via Cantu 1
20123 Milan
Italy
Tel: + 3902 869 0661
E-mail: amcham@amcham.it
Website: www.amcham.it
Useful websites
| www.usembassy.it | US Embassy in Italy |
| www.investinitaly.com | Government investment support website |
| www.istat.it | Institute of Statistics |
| www.italiantourism.com | Tourist information |