Recovery and the virtuous circle of investments – The foreign press has been reporting that economic forecasts for Italy are improving and that the country is preparing to put the recession behind (April 7 on Financial Times – Italy upgrades economic forecasts and Wall Street Journal – Italy Expects to Exit Recession This Year *). The climate for investors is improving along with the recovery; according to the Financial Times, this change can lead to a virtuous circle for the country (April 8 – Italian investment climate warms up; Boost for Italian economy as investment climate starts to warm). Another example? Fiat-Chrysler has just announced 500 million in investments for Italian factories producing the new Alfa Romeo engines Romeo (April 8 on Reuters – Fiat Chrysler to invest 500 mln euros in new engines for Alfa Romeo and Les Echos – Fiat investira E500 mlns dans des nouveaux moteurs pour Alfa Romeo). This change in the perception of Italy is partly due to the reforms, at least that was the opinion of the Wall Street Journal which stated that Rome could teach Paris how to enact difficult but much needed reforms (April 8 – What France Can Learn From Italy).
The success of Made in Italy – Last week, among the various sectors that are contributing to recovery, the foreign press paid attention to fashion and design. With the Salone del Mobile about to open, the Financial Times went to Brianza to view interior design that is beating the recession by concentrating on tradition and innovation (April 5 – Italian design firms beat recession by drawing on trusted skills). Instead, Le Monde went behind the scenes of the Italian empire of Calzedonia, the group that has followed a spectacular policy of world growth (April 4 – Calzedonia, les dessous d’un empire italien).
The case of Yoox, which just merged with the Swiss Net-a-porter, creating the world’s largest group of e-trade in fashion, is another example of global expansion. Last week, the Financial Times profiled the company founder and CEO Federico Marchetti (April 3 – Federico Marchetti: Geek to the chic).
The fashion pages also had room to recall Italian designer Francesco Smalto, who just recently passed away and was one of the few people who knew how to combine luxury and sobriety (Liberation, April 6 – Francesco Smalto se taille; Les Echos, April 7 – Décès du couturier italien Francesco Smalto).
Cinema, literature, science, art – There were various articles about the world of culture, cinema in particular. Le Monde and Liberation published reviews of the film “The Fabulous Youth”, the movie that Neapolitan director Mario Martone made about Giacomo Leopardi, the Italian Rimbaud ” (April 7 – Mario Martone : « Leopardi n’était pas qu’un bossu mélancolique »; «Leopardi», poème le maudit). The New York Times also discussed cinema, writing about Hollywood productions that are returning to Cinecittà, but the remake of Ben Hur (April 6 – Hollywood Takes a Roman Holiday … Again).
Instead, the Wall Street Journal reviewed the recent book The Telescope of Galileo, by Bucciantini, Michele Camerota and Franco Giudice , a work halfway between literature and science (April 3 – The Miracle of the Heavens). Finally, there was interest in art, in the form of the scultures by Spanish artist Juan Muñoz, on show at the Hangar Bicocca, Milan (El Pais, April 9 – Las estatuas de Juan Muñoz invaden Milán).
From the Dolomites to Campania, tourism in Italy – Last week too brought numerous suggestion in the foreign press for interesting stops for tourists. Rome took the lead, with a guide by M, Le Magazine du Monde containing ideas to visit the Eternal City for all pocketbooks. (April 7 – Rome, dolce cité), while the suggestions of the Financial Times were more exclusive, proposing the bar of the Hotel Hassler, located in the Italian capital and seen as an excellent place for business meetings. (April 7 – Great place to meet. Hassler Roma hotel bar, Rome).
Due, poi gli itinerari proposti da El Pais: la scoperta dello “splendore del vetro” nel rinnovato museo di Murano (April 6 – Murano recobra el esplendor del vidrio en su museo renovado) e un viaggio inCampania sulle orme dello scienziato Ettore Majorana, scomparso misteriosamente nel 1938 (April 7 – Un enigma de la física). Per concludere El Mundo, propone un po’ di “adrenalina dolomitica” con itinerari nel Parco Nazionale Adamello Brenta (April 7 – Dosis de adrenalina dolomítica).
El Pais proposed two itineraries: a trip to discover the splendor of glass at the renovated museum of Murano (April 6 – Murano recobra el esplendor del vidrio en su museo renovado) and a journey through Campania following the footsteps of scientist Ettore Majorana, who mysteriously disappeared in 1938 (April 7 – Un enigma de la física). Finally El Mundo suggested that its readers take in a little Dolomite adrenalina with a visit to Adamello Brenta National Park (April 7 – Dosis de adrenalina dolomítica).
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