Reform and recovery – Signals of recovery are now seen in Italy’s banking system. Monte Dei Paschi set about raising its share capital by 5 billion euro (June 8 and 9 in Financial Times – Historic Monte Paschi looks to a future beyond its tribulations*; Les Echos – Monte Paschi lance une augmentation de capital de 5 mds), and analysts predict that Italian banks will once again be making profits as of this year (Shanghai Daily, June 6 – Italian banking system to return to positive profit in 2014: study).
However, in order to consolidate growth, Italy needs to continue on the road to reform. That was the opinion of Diana Bracco, the president of Expo, who spoke about the situation in Italy and the prospects of the 2015 Universal Exposition in an interview with El Mundo (June 7 – ‘España ha hecho sus reformas, ahora ya nos toca a los italianos’).
Strategies of the luxury goods sector – Made in Italy sales continue to grow on international markets. Michele Norsa explained Ferragamo‘s strategies for expansion in Asia to Bloomberg Businessweek (June 11 – Ferragamo CEO Norsa on Strategy for Asian Markets), the Wall Street Journal attended the elegant gala given by Gucci in New York, where the Florentine firm presented its new line of cosmetics (June 5 – Elegance of Gucci Gala Recalls an Earlier Time*). Financial Times, wrote about the Milanese brand Bodino, which will redefine the role of the jeweler in the 21st century (June 6 – Interview: Giampiero Bodino*).
And again in Milan, the Street Journal visited the home of Giulia Molteni, manager of the family firm Molteni & C, one of the best known companies of Italian interior design (June 6 – Tour Design Maven Giulia Molteni’s Milan Home*). Finally, the luxury sector in the food market, with the German paper Die Welt explaining the success of Eataly, a great recipe for the Italian economy (June 11 – Italiens Luxus-Verkäufer verspricht Wirtschaftsboom; Italiens blühende Landschaften).
Style and engines – Style and the high end range of the Italian automotive industry were also in the news. The Wall Street Journal reported on the growth of Maserati and its effect on the revenues of the Fiat-Chrysler group (June 6 – For Fiat Chrysler, Maserati is Tiny and Booming*), while – on occasion of Ferrari‘s presentation of its new model, California T, the Spanish paper Expansion discussed the development strategy of the company, trying to balance growth and exclusivity (June 6 – El dilema de Ferrari: crecer o no crecer). Instead, Folha de S. Paulo reported on a more classic topic, the Vespa, the topic of an exhibition at Sao Paolo, showing posters, ads and images depicting the history of the famous Italian motor scooter, a symbol of design in industrial culture (June 10 – Vespa é símbolo da ‘dolce vita’ em mostra).
Culture, tourism, sports – As always, the foreign press ran articles on culture and leisure time. The New York Times described research by Italian scientists to restore and protect a self-portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci (June 9 – A Possible Way to Save a Disappearing Leonardo*), and El Pais looked at the creative event that is the Venice Biennale (June 6 – La Bienal de Venecia se rebela contra los arquitectos estrella). In addition, The Times narrated the many pleasures of a vacation in Positano (June 8 – One destination, two holidays: Positano, Italy*), while numbers papers published reports on the Italian slant to the World Cup, with profiles and interviews of Andrea Pirlo, top player and captain of the blue-clad national team (Financial Times, June 6 – Exclusive interview: Andrea Pirlo*; New York Times, June 11 – Andrea Pirlo Is Italy’s World Cup Maestro*; The Times, June 12 – Andrea Pirlo aims to be king of jungle*).
* marked articles viewable online upon payment or registration