(4 February 2016) Italian businesses invest more and look more abroad. Roberto Luongo, Managing Director of the Italian Trade Agency for the promotion abroad and the internationalization of Italian businesses, and Ettore Riello, President of the Association of Italian Exhibitions and Fairs (AEFI), have renewed the collaboration agreement for 2016-2017. The goal is to support the internationalization of Italian fair organizations associated with AEFI. In the first two years of the agreement, 61 initiatives in 31 countries were organized, presenting the Italian trade fair system and its manifestations to select and qualified operators. Particular attention was paid to markets such as China, Ukraine, South Korea, Germany, and Egypt, and many were the activities involving incoming foreign delegations for trade fairs taking place in Italy, as well as the start of a series of entertainment activities aimed at bringing foreign exhibitors to Italian salons. The agreement provides for the ITA to carry out a series of activities and provide services recognizing certain benefits for AEFI-associated companies. The agreement also features the possibility, through the stipulation of specific operational agreements with individual fair organizers, to give the ITA the task of representing said trade fairs abroad, in one or more countries. Among the various services offered by the ITA, there is ad-hoc analysis useful to identify potentially interesting markets for exhibition companies both in terms of attracting exhibitors and visitors for events taking place in Italy, and to evaluate the possibility of exporting the consolidated trade fair format. The agreement meets the internationalization needs of AEFI members and concretely supports the internationalization of companies participating in their events.
