‘Made in Italy’ around the world – Italy’s balance of trade improves again, and in December 2015 reaches a surplus of 6 billion euro, for an annual total of 45 billion, an increase of 8% over 2014 (Les Echos, February 17 – Hausse de l’excédent commercial de l’Italie). Reading the reports on the Made in Italy brand in the international online newspapers, we see the explanation of this increase. For example the Financial Times and Reuters report on February 16 the “leap ahead” of 23% in the results for Furla, the “accessible luxury brand”, which has increased its directly-owned points of sale, reaching the level of 415 stores (Furla sales jump amid accessible luxury growth*, Furla confirms the rise and rise of accessible luxury).
Further, Italian fashion continues well represented in the news sections of the foreign dailies. For Spain, El País reports on Dolce&Gabbana’s proffering for Valentines’ Day (February 12 – Dolce & Gabbana propone un San Valentín de lujo), while El Mundo tells how the Elena Mirò collection “triumphed” on the Madrid runway on February 16 (Las curvas ‘made in Italy’ triunfan en la pasarela). Die Welt also devotes an article to the new Fiat 124 spider, the new version of the legend from the motoring past (February 12 – Das ist der Ferrari des kleinen Mannes).
As well, the economic ties with the foreign markets are being strengthened. There are opportunities both in the area of investment – such as for the Italian Investindustrial private equity firm, which closed the period with a new pooling of 2 million euro for acquisitions in southern Europe (Expansión, February 17 – Los Bonomi levantan 2.000 millones de euros para hacer compras en el sur de Europa) and in the diplomatic area. In fact the foreign press dedicated space to Matteo Renzi’s visit to Argentina (La Nación, February 15 –El primer ministro italiano llegó a la Argentina para reforzar las relaciones bilaterales), and to Sergio Mattarella’s trip to New York. President Mattarella’s travels will be followed up by a trade mission to Italy from Andrew Cuomo, Governor of New York State (Wall Street Journal, February 11 – Cuomo welcomes Italian president to NY, plans trade mission*).
Culture – There are a variety of cultural stories in the current week. Concerning literature, Le Monde publishes a profile of the writer Sandro Veronesi on February 11 (Sandro Veronesi, l’homme à la hauteur*). For art, El País rediscovers the Divisionists, on exhibition until the end of June at Fundación Mapfre in Madrid (February 15 – El arte italiano que mezcló puntillismo y lucha de clases), while the Washington Post reports on the signing of an agreement between the Italian Government and UNESCO for the creation of a “peacekeepers” task force intended to protect world cultural heritage (February 17 – Italy aims to keep art, artifacts safe from extremist abroad). The subject for El País is the opera, with an article describing how Valentino chose the Italian-American director Sofia Coppola for the upcoming production of the Traviata at the Opera di Roma (February 12 – Sofia Coppola y Valentino, unidos por la ‘Traviata’). On February 11 The Spanish daily also addresses pop music, retracing the 65 years of history of the Festival di Sanremo (Cuando la canción italiana explotó).
Tourism – There is also coverage for tourism, with The Times visiting the city of Romeo and Juliette, on Saint Valentine’s eve (February 13 – A weekend in . . . Verona, Italy*) and the New York Times, with their column on hotels suggesting a visit to Turin, for a “winning combination of history and design” (February 12 – At Turin Hotel, a Minimalist Mood, With a Dash of History*). Finally, on February 11 Die Zeit publishes a portrait of Venice during carnival season (Von Nebel verschluckt).
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