Dec. 10 – South East Asia is currently hosting 100 Italian operators, representing companies, banks and trade associations, led by the Deputy Minister of Economic Development, Carlo Calenda. They are taking part in a trade mission to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, which began yesterday and will end on December 12. Many are the institutional and economic behind the initiative: the mission was organized by ICE – the Agency for the promotion abroad and internationalization of Italian firms, and Confindustria, under the aegis of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with the collaboration Simest, Unioncamere, GSE, Ance, Anie, Anfia and Federprogetti. The objective is to present to the local counterparts the Italian companies active in infrastructure / construction, energy / green power, machinery / equipment, petrochemical and automotive industries. The strategic initiative takes place in an economic climate that, as confirmed by the latest ISTAT data available (October 2013), sees Italian exports growing towards non-EU markets, though at a slower pace (+0.8% compared with September, at seasonally adjusted data, with a value of €15.2 billion). In October, the trade balance reached the highest value since last May, approximately €1.9 billion. In the period between January and October 2013, there was a net trend reversal, with assets in excess by € 14 billion, compared with a deficit of €3 trillion in the same period of 2012. In particular, in October, the major trading partners were the ASEAN countries (Association of South East Asian Nations) with +18.5% . “That small portion of Italian economic growth is entirely due to net exports carried out on non-EU markets” concludes Gaetano Fausto Esposito’s analysis, general secretary of Assocamerestero, commenting on the presented Istat data on foreign trade last November.
