Today it was Cuneo’s turn to host the “Italy for companies, with SMEs towards foreign markets” Roadshow, organised by ICE-Agenzia in partnership with Confartigianato Imprese – Associazione Artigiani of the Province of Cuneo, a local partner of the event. This stop will show the production model that best characterises our economic system: only a few large companies and numerous small and medium-sized enterprises that create high-quality products but that struggle to go beyond the national borders.
These companies represent an area with a great growth potential which can be adequately exploited by providing them with the information, instruments, support and certainties that can enable them to adequately and successfully tackle the challenge posed by internationalisation.
The welcome greeting was by Domenico Massimino, President of Confartigianato Imprese – Associazione Artigiani of the Province of Cuneo who, along with Marcello Gatto, Deputy Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce of Cuneo, and Giuseppina De Santis, Regional Councillor for Production Activities of Piedmont, gave an overview of the role of private and public institutions throughout the territory.
“In a phase such as the current one, characterised by the difficulty of laboriously relaunching domestic demand, the idea of Italian entrepreneurs, including small and medium-sized enterprises, doing business abroad has almost become a must,” said Mr. Massimino.
He went on: “Whoever decides to operate on a different market must be well aware, from the very start, that he/she is faced with stimulating although complex challenges. The internationalisation process cannot be improvised; it needs to be planned with the advice of experts and the support of Institutions, Agencies and Associations that work in the sector.”
In concluding, Mr. Massimino emphasised the importance of this type of meeting: “The Roadshow therefore represents a strategic moment in which to guide our enterprises on the road to export, an important training and sharing opportunity. The strengths of moments like these are the great synergies and cooperation that are established between the different players involved, with the aim of developing projects useful both to the companies and to the local economic system.”
The technical session was subsequently opened with a look at international scenarios by Alessandra Lanza – of Partner Prometeia.
The moderator of the session scheduling contributions by ICE and SACE-SIMEST was Carlo Formosa, the Foreign Ministry’s Director General for the Internationalisation and Promotion of Italian Companies Abroad. In his introductory remarks, he said: “If we stop and think it through, it is a phase in which the space for anti-cyclical manoeuvres is greatly reduced by the effects of several factors, and one of the few environments that are still capable of operating in this direction is precisely that of companies that decide to turn to foreign markets.”
The words spoken by Carlo Formosa arise from a reflection on the opportunities deriving from growing global demand.
He continued: “It is true that the world is continuously witnessing new crisis scenarios which create the recent geopolitical dynamics that make it problematic to access market outlets in economic contexts that have been stable and welcoming up to now. But it is also true that for every market that tends to close up, there is always another one opening, offering our economic system new prospects to expand,” he said referring to the Foreign Ministry’s capacity to perceive these trends in advance through its diplomatic and consular network, thus guiding companies towards better growth opportunities. He concluded: “Especially in this historic phase, it is crucial that globalisation and digital innovation not be perceived as a threat by companies but, on the contrary, as an opportunity to grasp, especially through an informed approach to internationalisation.”
The national instruments supporting internationalisation were illustrated by Antonino Laspina – Director of the Marketing Coordination Office of ICE-Agenzia – by Enrica Del Grosso – Head of SACE Piedmont and Liguria – and by Carlo De Simone – Area Manager of Marketing and Business Development of SIMEST.
“Cuneo was the 40th stop of the Roadshow on internationalisation promoted by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation,” said Mr. Laspina. “The stop at Cuneo, which was organised in partnership with local administrations and representatives of companies, revealed the leading role played by Confartigianato Cuneo. This stop enabled agencies like ICE, SACE and SIMEST to address companies directly, giving them an update on the internationalisation instruments made available by the Government; and the afternoon session in particular enabled approximately 80 companies to have one-to-one meetings which could give them future access to training packages and the services provided by ICE offices abroad.”
Giulia Marcon – Head of the International Affairs Department of the Piedmont Region – subsequently highlighted the role of public agencies, which act as a guide and “bridge” between Italy and foreign countries, and confirmed the commitment to network into the process all the other players involved in this important connection.
Teo Musso – the CEO of Birrificio Baladin – closed the morning session by illustrating his company’s success story: a pioneer in the production of craft beer (his brewery was one of the founders of the Craft Beer Movement in Italy), the brewery was capable of transforming a local reality, strongly bound to agricultural production, into a consolidated corporate activity with 10,000 direct customers in more than 30 different countries.
From 1 to 6 p.m., entrepreneurs had the opportunity to meet the representatives of all the organisations present, including the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, SACE, SIMEST, ICE-Agenzia, Unioncamere, Regional Authorities, Confindustria, Rete Imprese Italia, Alleanza delle Cooperative, in addition to the representatives of the local organisations that cooperate in the initiative, which outlined the internationalisation strategies that can be customised to individual needs.
The “Italy for companies, with SMEs towards foreign markets” Roadshow is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and promoted and supported by the Ministry of Economic Development, SACE, SIMEST and ICE-Agenzia, in conjunction with Confindustria, Unioncamere and Rete Imprese Italia.
