Southeast Asia is an ideal market for the growth of our exports, which is essential to “kickstart growth in Italy”. The point was underscored by Under-Secretary Marta Dassù at the close of the ASEAN Awareness Forum at the Foreign Ministry in Rome.
The Forum served to acquaint Italian entrepreneurs with investment opportunities in a region of countries “not as developed as China and Brazil but which are still growing at a rate of 5-6-7% per year”, explained Dassù.
Our presence there is not yet as strong as that of other European countries but could develop enormously, given that demand at present is coming from emerging countries like those of southeast Asia. Countries that can draw on a regional coordination structure such as ASEAN, which was inspired by the European Union. “Therefore”, explained Dassù, “if an Italian business decides to invest in a country like, for example, Singapore, it could then think of expanding into the other nine ASEAN markets and benefit from a virtuous regional domino effect”.
“Southeast Asia has a great need for the products Italy has to offer, for example in the machine tools and fashion sectors”, added Dassù. “The Italian Government, including through initiatives like this Forum, is seeking to increase the international scope of our industrial system, from a primarily European to a more global dimension, looking to Asia and Latin America. And that doesn’t just mean the big emerging economies”, concluded the Under-Secretary, “but also slightly smaller markets that are still growing at a very fast pace”.
