ROME (ITALPRESS) – The “Strategic Study on Development Opportunities in the U.S. for Italian Businesses” prepared by TEHA Group on commission from the Embassy of Italy in the United States and ICE-Agency for the Promotion Abroad and Internationalization of Italian Companies was presented at the Embassy of Italy in Washington. The program on the Italian side is promoted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy (MIMIT), Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces, 14 Italian regions, Confindustria, Transatlantic Investment Committee (TIC) and Transatlantic Harmonic Foundation (THF). On the U.S. side, Department of State, Department of Commerce, organizations representing 18 U.S. states, Tech Hubs Organization, Select USA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are involved. Evolving from the work done by the Transatlantic Investment Committee (TIC), with the support of the Transatlantic Harmonic Foundation (THF), the Italy – US Tech Business & Investment Matching Initiative is a system-wide program aimed at ensuring transatlantic cooperation in favor of the development of the innovation industry in Italy and its contribution in the world. It is held in parallel with the third edition of the THF-TIC US Stakeholders’ Meeting. Thanks to the matching activity facilitated by the public and private stakeholders involved, the Italy – US Tech Business & Investment Matching Initiativeaims to nurture the meeting and dialogue between Italian and U.S. institutions and companies, fostering industrial partnerships and investment flows for mutual growth in strategic sectors such as, for 2025, life sciences and aerospace, with a specific focus on industrial artificial intelligence solutions.”Last year, Italy-US interchange exceeded $126 billion, said Mariangela Zappia, Ambassador of Italy to the United States. “The United States is the main destination of Italy’s foreign direct investments, with more than 65 billion euros of stock reached in 2023, and American investments in Italy exceeded 20 billion euros. As these figures show, the United States is by far our largest trading partner outside the EU. Today’s initiative offers a valuable opportunity to strengthen this intense economic-trade cooperation-strategic for Italy-because in many cases the U.S. states and our regions hold the keys to successful collaboration, thanks to their unique expertise and knowledge of the realities on the ground, as well as their ability to create opportunities for contact.” For Matteo Zoppas, president of ICE, “with 67 billion euros of Made in Italy exports in 2023 and a substantial hold in the first eight months of 2024 (-0.2 percent compared to January-August 2023), the U.S. is a key trade partner for Italy. ICE, as part of the “Diplomacy of Growth” promoted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, in collaboration with Sistema Paese and other institutional entities, such as the Italian Embassy in Washington, is working to ensure that this figure can increase further. Excellent opportunities for growth come from those strategic, high-tech sectors, for which Made in Italy has already proven to be competitive thanks to innovation and the quality of products and services. Italy, in the first 7 months of 2024, exported to the U.S. 5.8 billion of high technology (+69%), compared to 6.6 billion for the whole of 2023″. According to Zoppas, “growth was driven by biotechnology (+110%), life sciences (+120%), electronics (+41%) and aerospace (+43%). It was precisely the aerospace sector that saw, in 2023 alone, the involvement of 80 companies and the organization of major collectives such as Space Days (Washington) Spacecom (Orlando); Satellite (Washington, DC); Space Symposium (Colorado Springs) and ADSS Seattle (Seattle, WA) by the ICE office in Houston. Through our offices in Los Angeles, Miami and the two desks in New York and San Francisco we focus on the internationalization of the main Italian trade fair events, creating important opportunities for real business-matching as happened with the presentations in the main U.S. capitals of the Salone del Mobile, Salone Nautico, Cersaie and even more so with the first edition of Vinitaly Chicago, which at its debut has already exceeded all expectations. It is an important time where foreign trade is seeing more and more demand for products containing technologies with artificial intelligence, along with the new space economy that will grow from a value of 400 billion to 1.8 trillion in the next 10 years, these are the trains we cannot afford to miss. Thanks to Ambassador Mariangela Zappia, who wanted to delve into topics that can direct the commercial and industrial strategies of the Italian business fabric,” he added.Massimiliano Fedriga, president of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, commented, “We are pleased to be present at this important event that fosters matching between U.S. and Italian companies with a targeted focus on innovation. This is an area for which Friuli Venezia Giulia has been classified as a Strong innovator by the European Union, precisely because of our region’s propensity to foster contamination between the worlds of scientific research and business. “As noted by Mauro Battocchi, director general for the promotion of the Sistema Paese, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, “Italy stands out today as one of the leading exporters of goods globally. It boasts the second largest manufacturing base in Europe. More than half of its exports are related to the mechanical, advanced technology, pharmaceutical and chemical sectors. “According to Amedeo Teti, Head of the Department for Enterprise Policy of the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy: “Italy and the US are strategic partners. There are currently 3,247 companies with U.S. participation in Italy, employing 399,652 people and generating a turnover of more than 199.2 billion euros. We believe that collaboration between institutions and companies in the two countries is the key to creating a common innovation ecosystem.” The study, available from today on the website of the Embassy of Italy, aims to offer an operational tool to guide the strategic choices of Italian companies in the United States. It takes a snapshot of the presence of our companies overseas through concise fact sheets with the main data on the tricolor entrepreneurial presence on American soil and provides timely insights into the opportunities offered by the large American macro-regions and individual states. It also maps the most relevant programs and measures for entrepreneurs interested in investing and operating in the US.
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(ITALPRESS).
