The first meeting of Sistema Italia in Switzerland was held in Bern with the participation of the organisations responsible for promoting the Italian presence in the Swiss Confederation.
It was an important opportunity for discussion to share the overall strategy for the promotion of the Italian presence in Switzerland for 2024, a year that promises to be interesting for the development of bilateral trade relations, which already see an overall exchange of about one billion Euros per week. During the discussion, some guidelines were agreed upon for the promotional action of Sistema Italia in support of companies, focusing on the integration between innovative environments and the manufacturing system; support for quality agri-food products; the aerospace sector, and scientific cooperation between the two countries.
In his introductory speech, Italian Ambassador Gian Lorenzo Cornado emphasised that Italy-Switzerland relations were given a strong boost thanks to the State Visit paid by the President of the Republic to Switzerland and the numerous bilateral meetings held over the past year. It is a close relationship of friendship, partnership and good neighbourliness that is based on a solid common heritage, in which Italianness plays a fundamental role.
There are more than one thousand Italian companies operating in Switzerland in the main productive sectors – ranging from the financial-insurance sector to the pharmaceutical one, passing through the automotive, agri-food and textile and fashion sectors – and around 1,400 Swiss companies in Italy.
The meeting, which took place on 30 January, was attended by the Consuls General of Italy in Lugano and Geneva; the Consuls in Basel and Zurich; the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute in Zurich; the Director of the ICE Agency in Bern;, the President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce for Switzerland (CCIS), and representatives from some of the most important Italian companies operating in Switzerland, including BPS Suisse, Divina Food, ENI Suisse, ITA Airways, MSC, and Pirelli.
