The 'Strategic Study on Development Opportunities in the US for Italian Companies', prepared by the Teha Group on commission from our Embassy in the United States and Ice-Agency for the promotion abroad and internationalisation of Italian companies, was presented today at the Italian Embassy in Washington.
"I strongly wanted this study," explained Ambassador Mariangela Zappia, "because there was a need for an up-to-date snapshot of the Italian industrial presence in the United States and to analyse Italy-US trade dynamics, with the aim of outlining the main opportunities for development, with a particular focus on some strategic sectors with high innovative content, such as mechanics and advanced manufacturing, energy, aerospace, and chemicals." Making the point was Matteo Zoppas, President of Ice.
"With €67 billion of Made in Italy exports in 2023 and a substantial hold in the first eight months of 2024 (-0.2% compared to January-August 2023), the USA - he said - represents 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,' he continued, 'come from those strategic, high-tech sectors, in which Made in Italy has already proven to be competitive thanks to its
innovation and the quality of products and services. In the first 7 months of 2024, Italy exported 5.8 billion in high-tech to the USA (+69%), compared to 6.6 billion for the whole of 2023. Growth was driven by biotechnology (+110%), life sciences (+120%), electronics (+41%) and aerospace (+43%). In 2023 alone, the aerospace sector saw the involvement of 80 companies and the organisation of important collectives such as Space Days (Washington) Spacecom (Orlando); Satellite (Washington Dc); Space Symposium (Colorado Springs) and ADSS Seattle (Seattle, Washington) by the Ice office in Houston. Through our offices in Los Angeles, Miami, and the two desks in New York and San Francisco," Zoppas added, "we are focusing on the internationalisation of the main Italian trade fair events, creating important opportunities for real business-matching, as was the case for the presentations in the main US capitals of the Salone del Mobile, Salone Nautico, and Cersaie, and even more so for the first edition of Vinitaly Chicago, which at its debut has already exceeded all expectations. This is an important moment where foreign trade is seeing an increasing demand for products that contain technology with artificial intelligence, together with the new space economy that will go from a value of 400 billion to 1,800 billion over the next 10 years, these are the trains we cannot afford to miss".
The study, available from today on the Italian Embassy website, is intended 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 brief fact sheets with the main data on the presence of Italian entrepreneurs on American soil and provides detailed information on the opportunities offered by the large American macro-regions and individual states. In addition, the most important programmes and measures for entrepreneurs interested in investing and operating in the USA are mapped out. The United States remains the most important market for Italy outside the EU and the second largest in the world. The study highlights how Italian companies with a high innovation content, from biotech companies to aerospace conglomerates, are present in the US alongside more traditional Italian companies, such as food or the automotive sector. Artificial intelligence, biotechnology, the transition to clean energy, and the space economy represent areas that will become increasingly important for our bilateral cooperation.
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