The activity of accompanying and assisting companies on international markets is certainly a well-established priority for the Foreign Ministry and its network abroad (in close connection with the other relevant Ministries and organisations), in the awareness of the decisive role of internationalisation for the growth of Italy’s companies and economic system. For this reason, the over 200 diplomatic offices (Embassies and Consulates) are a network at the service of Italian citizens and companies worldwide.
As part of their economic diplomacy activities, Embassies and Consulates mainly carry out information and market orientation activities and provide institutional support in relations with local authorities when deemed necessary. Embassies and Consulates also negotiate the removal of non-tariff barriers to our exports and issue business visas to foreign operators intending to travel to our country, e.g. to participate in trade fairs, sign contracts or visit factories. More information on this can be found on the Visa for Italy website.
Embassies and Consulates can provide information – regarding the country or territory of interest – on the state of bilateral political relations; the security situation; the characteristics of local counterparts; the Italian presence in the country of interest (e.g. the presence of ITA Offices, Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad, banks, Italian professional studios or consultants, other Italian companies, influential communities of Italian origin;, as well as development cooperation programmes and cultural initiatives. All this information can help operators in defining their business strategies.
For example, you can ask the Embassy or Consulate for help in establishing contacts with local institutional counterparts (i.e. as early as the first phase of market entry), or you can ask for support in participating in a tender, or in overcoming any problematic issues (e.g. in the event of customs or tax disputes, intellectual property violations or the raising of non-tariff barriers).
Ideally as early as the phase when markets and opportunities are identified, i.e. even before entering a foreign market, using the information tools made available by the Foreign Ministry. In any case, you are recommended to contact the relevant Embassy or Consulate before departure in order to arrange a preliminary orientation meeting. This will also help understand whether the company needs institutional support or rather specific services (e.g. market studies, identification of business partners, advice on local legislation), for which the Embassy or Consulate shall refer the company to the relevant ITA office or the local Italian Chamber of Commerce (or alternatively, when they do not exist, to consultancy companies, professional firms, etc.).
Certainly so. It often happens, instead, that companies contact Embassies and Consulates only in situations of difficulty. Assisting companies in resolving disputes or overcoming problematic issues that may arise abroad is certainly an integral part of economic diplomacy activities. However, if Embassies and Consulates are involved only when the problem has already arisen, the effectiveness of their intervention may be reduced. For this reason, the diplomatic-consular network should be contacted even only to inform of your presence in the country, your interest in participating in a tender or establishing contacts with local counterparts. In fact, it is essential for Embassies and Consulates to have an overall picture of the Italian companies’ interests in a given market, so that they can better assist them in their activities and enhance their presence in the many contacts with the authorities and other local counterparts, thus trying to prevent problematic issues from arising. Some entrepreneurs here tell their concrete experience in this regard.
For requests for assistance, information and meetings with the Embassy/Consulate, you need to fill in a short form available here.
Consulates perform their functions in a specific area of the country (“consular district”). Companies that already operate in an area that falls within the consular district or are interested in investing in that specific area may contact the relevant Consulate directly. In the case of a company interested in a country without reference to a specific area, it may address to the Embassy. Furthermore, the Embassy should be contacted for contacts with the country’s central authorities, whereas the Consulate may be contacted for contacts with the regional authorities. In the event of uncertainty as to who is responsible, it is always possible to contact the Embassy in the first instance, which will then possibly refer the company to the Consulate. The list of Embassies and Consulates can be found here.
There is a close functional – and in many cases also logistical integration (sharing of premises) – between Embassies and Consulates, on the one hand, and ITA Offices, on the other. This means that companies can receive well-structured assistance, ranging from orientation activities and possibly Embassy’s institutional support to the more specific services provided by ITA, which include, for example, local customer and partner search activities, meetings with local operators and customised market research. The list of services provided by the ITA Agency is available here. Moreover, ITA Offices – in liaison with Embassies and Consulates – organise specific trade promotion initiatives. However, not only in cases where the ITA Office is located within the Embassy or Consulate, but also in cases where it is physically separate, the respective officials maintain close coordination in order to be always able to orient and support the company in every aspect of its activities abroad. A map of ITA Offices worldwide is available here.
The Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad are associations of Italian and local entrepreneurs and professionals, officially recognised by the Italian State, and therefore private entities that can provide to Italian companies entering a market value-added resulting from their being rooted in the territory, which leads to a direct knowledge of the market and an extensive network of relations with the local business world. The activity of the Chambers of Commerce is therefore all the more useful for companies the more numerous and authoritative their members are, who can offer valuable knowledge of the local context. The Chambers of Commerce carry out many activities to facilitate companies in their business activities, for example by facilitating business contacts, organising workshops and conferences, monitoring sectoral trends and providing updates on tax and financial regulations and company law. The list of Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad is available here.
It is essential to keep on informing the Embassy or Consulate not only of any problematic issues, but also of positive developments. In fact, this enables the diplomatic offices to follow up on their assistance activities with local counterparts and to provide companies with any updates relating to the sector of interest. It is therefore appropriate for companies not to consider assistance on a specific issue as an end in itself, but as part of a structured relationship that shall be maintained over time.
It is useful to contact the Foreign Ministry, particularly for companies that are not yet active in specific markets (and therefore have no Embassy/Consulate of reference), but are interested in an internationalisation process. In fact, the Foreign Ministry carries out ongoing information and communication activities to enterprises on the opportunities offered by foreign markets and serves as a high-level platform to put the foreign countries’ institutions in contact with the Italian business world, particularly during visits by foreign government members. For this reason, even before entering foreign markets, it can be useful to follow the activities and events organised by the Foreign Ministry, such as “Country Presentations” and “Business Forums”.
To contact the Foreign Ministry’s relevant offices, it is necessary to fill in the same form available for Embassies and Consulates, selecting “Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation” in the drop-down menu relating to the office you wish to contact.
To contact the Foreign Ministry’s relevant offices, it is necessary to fill in the same form available for Embassies and Consulates, selecting “Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation” in the drop-down menu relating to the office you wish to contact.
The Foreign Ministry offers some online platforms that provide Italian companies with useful information on markets and opportunities. In particular, InfoMercatiEsteri provides country fact sheets containing information on the economic and political outlook, market opportunities (what to sell and where to invest), promotional initiatives, trade barriers, investment problems and possible risks, access to credit, and an overview of the Italian presence and bilateral relations. The ExTender platform, instead, provides – subject to free registration – information on international tenders for the supply of goods, services or the realisation of works; “early warnings”, i.e. anticipations on tenders not yet published; news on multilateral projects and financing. News (calls for tenders and early warnings) on an average of over 7,000 tenders are published annually on ExTender and it is possible to activate customised alerts referring to specific countries or sectors. Moreover, the Foreign Ministry promotes and finances the programme “Invest your Talent in Italy”, which enables companies to place highly qualified students from strategic markets for a period of internship in their structure.
The Crisis Unit’s tools, accessible through the Viaggiare Sicuri and Dove Siamo nel Mondo portals, are always available to companies, especially those operating or intending to operate in countries or areas with particular risk profiles. On Viaggiare Sicuri it is possible to view up-to-date information of a general nature and on safety, mobility and health related to each country. DoveSiamoNelMondo, which has a dedicated channel for business trips, enables users to report their temporary presence abroad, so that they can be contacted quickly in the event of an emergency, and to facilitate the planning of any assistance interventions.
All the information guidance and institutional support services offered by the Foreign Ministry and its diplomatic-consular network to companies are always entirely free of charge. The only types of fee-paying services that may be requested by companies concern the use of Embassy or Consulate premises for holding conferences, workshops, events or interpreting services for non-institutional activities.
See the Nota dazi USA-UE.