Foreign investors return – Foreign press coverage for the monitored period reflected an eventful week in Italian business, with the presentation by the country’s major corporate groups of their accounts forming the subject of a number of related reports (in the Financial Times on March 13 – Pirelli shares rise on improved outlook*, and on March 15 – Eni raises oil production growth target*). Taking as its starting point the good results achieved at auctions of Italian government bonds, an insightful article that appeared in the American business paper The Wall Street Journal explained that the Italian market is regaining the confidence of major investors (on March 14 – Italy Bond Sale Shows Divergence from Spain).
Italian groups experience growth abroad – Even as reports emerged of foreign operators returning to invest in Italy (Gulf News, for instance, pointed to a surge in confidence not seen for some time: on March 11 – Italian bonds in longest run of gains since 1998), several Italian groups announced their strategies for growth abroad, including Amplifon and Barilla, who plan to strengthen their presence in France (in Le Figaro – Amplifon vise 500 magasins d’acoustique en France, and in Les Echos – Barilla investit 15 millions dans ses usines en France*, both on March 15), and Telecom Italia, which has its sights set on increasing its profitability in Brazil (Valor Econômico on March 13 – Telecom Italia busca mais rentabilidade no Brasil*). Snam was also reported as preparing to invest over one billion euro on expansion in foreign markets (in The Wall Street Journal – Snam Has $1.32 Billion for Foreign Expansion, and in The Washington Post – Eni’s Snam gas distribution unit to invest $8.8 billion to develop gas infrastructure network, both on March 13).
Italian cinema in the spotlight – Coverage of Italy in the culture pages of international newspapers this week focused on cinema: the local release of Nanni Moretti’s film “We have a pope” was the subject of two articles in the Brazilian press (in Folha de S. Paulo on March 16 – ‘Habemus Papam’ aborda igreja com respeito, mas com coragem*, and Valor Econômico on March 15 – Filme “Habemus Papam” questiona o fardo da liderança). Other reports focused on how Italy remains an attractive location for foreign directors, as in the case of Woody Allen, who has settled on “To Rome with Love” as the title of his new film (in La Vanguardia on March 16 – ‘To Rome with love’, título del último filme de Woody Allen*), and Francis Ford Coppola, who has chosen a town in Basilicata, the region from which his family originally hails, as the site for his latest hotel (in the International Herald Tribune on March 10-11 – For his next hotel, Francis Ford Coppola goes home*).
Finally, a piece with a literary rather than cinematic focus consisted of an interview given by Erri De Luca to ABC marking the release of his latest book in Spain (on March 15 – «La revolución no es una rabieta, comporta muertes y violencia»).
* marked articles viewable online upon payment or registration