The role of international businesses in Italy’s economic growth
This roundtable saw those in attendance debate the role that foreign-owned firms play in the Italian economy, particularly with a view to identifying approaches and measures that could enable foreign direct investment inflows to be improved.
Increasing Italy’s exports
The roundtable got underway with an examination of the twofold characterization of Italian exports that has, for over a decade, been a core theme in public debate over the competitiveness of the Italian economy in the age of globalization – one which sees exports both as a driver of Italy’s growth and, at the same time, as a reflection of the outward-looking nature of the Italian production system.
Family affairs: the Italian economy and family-run businesses
The Friends of Aspen held their twelfth annual meeting in the newly-restored Salone Barozzi at the Milan Institute for the Blind. At the opening of proceedings, the group’s latest members were introduced, a brief account was given of the group’s activities over the past year, and a range of matters raised by group members were discussed, including the choice of discussion topic for the next annual conference to be held in the spring.
Italy’s strong and weak points
The opening premise of this roundtable discussion was that a differential of more than ten percentage points has separated Italy from the average growth rate of the eurozone countries over the last 10 years. Whilst the growth rates of some of these countries have now been revealed as unsustainable, based as they were on an escalation in private and/or public borrowings, it was acknowledged that a comparison with the growth of more virtuous countries, such as Germany and, in particular, France, is still unfavorable to Italy.
Italy’s savings: how to make it work for the country’s development
The Conference got underway with an acknowledgement that savings have played a key role in maintaining Italy’s stability during the more acute phases of the recent financial crisis, and may play an even more important role now as a driver of the country’s economic recovery and growth.
Business, productivity, active society: a recipe for growth
The participants in this seminar observed that after the shock of the crisis, the economy is searching for ways and means of coming out of the recession with a new model for growth. The first signs of recovery are raising hopes everywhere that the worst may be over – even in Italy. However, despite indications emerging from the financial market, the impact of the crisis on the real economy and employment are far from being a thing of the past.
How multinational companies in Italy can support the country’s development
The discussions at this roundtable event got underway with the acknowledgement that the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) is an indicator which provides a snapshot of a country’s investment attractiveness and its competitiveness.
Public investment to reinforce the real economy
In the history of any country, there are phases where it is necessary to build and phases where wealth produced needs to be distributed. Italy, hit by the international crisis, finds itself in the former condition and aims to bolster its economy by building new infrastructure and, in the process, create jobs and facilitate the movement of people and goods.