June 11 – “Internazionalitalia” is the first consortium in Italy for the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises. Headed by a university, it was founded on the initiative of the Foundation Link Campus University (in partnership with Link Consulting, Sudgest Aid, Consedin and Protec). “Today, direct investment by Italian companies abroad is worth more than € 400 billion, more than double compared to 15 years ago, when the investment amounted to €183 billion. But there is still a long way to go, especially if you look at other large EU countries,” said today Vincenzo Scotti, president of Link Campus University, on the occasion of the presentation of “Internazionalitalia” in Rome. “According to our Observatory’s analysis of Bank of Italy data, it’s still possible to recover lost ground because the ‘Italian brand’ can always surprise, but also because certain areas of our country are taking just now important steps abroad.” According to the Firm Observatory of Internazionalitalia, which processed the data of a study conducted by Riccardo Cristadoro and Leandro D’Aurizio within the Invind survey of the Bank of Italy, one in five manufacturing companies is implementing internationalization strategies; of these more than a quarter (26.6%) come from the North East, North West (17.7%), Center (15.2%) and only 8,6% from the South. However, in the last year the number of international firms from the South almost doubled (+62.5%). According to Scotti, “the idea of creating a consortium based on science and legal liability comes from the awareness that most companies do not plan their activities abroad because they don’t have sufficient information on destination countries. This happens in four cases in 10 when companies choose to not internationalize – In most cases, companies don’t have information for emerging markets, where their entry chances are higher.” The first act of the new hub for global business is the Nagin (Natural Gas Italian Network) led by Enerco Distribution Spa, for the acquisition, through a network of Italian businesses, of market share in strategic areas rich in natural resources but lacking in infrastructure, such as North Africa, the Middle East and the Caspian.
