The new Italian manufacturing: American and Asian models
The manufacturing sector has changed considerably over recent years across the entire globe, and Italy too has undergone some very profound adjustments. But while every advanced country, with the exception of Germany, has lost major chunks of the manufacturing export market, a gradual upgrade and redistribution process has kept Italian manufacturing competitive despite a steep drop in domestic demand, and Italian sector firms have lost a smaller share than those of other more mature economies.
The Italian luxury goods industry: cultural and manufacturing aspects
The participants at this national roundtable noted, by way of opening premise, that the luxury and high-end markets represent a worldwide business worth 730 billion dollars. The sub-segment of personal luxury goods – valued at 230 billion dollars – sees Italy and France as joint market leaders, each having a share worth more than 50 billion dollars.
Focus on industry: how to increase competitiveness?
Opening proceedings at this ASL session was the observation that industry is once more the focus of economic growth strategies in the major advanced economies, having been so all along in emerging markets. Taking off first in the US, this approach has recently gained purchase in Europe as well, such that industrial policy, which until a few years ago was considered old hat, has again become key in the formulation of economic policy strategies.
The digital agenda and the financial sector
Proceedings at this National Conference got underway with the observation that the ICT industry characterizes and defines the age we live in. The spread of digital technology has led to a radical sea change in the economic system that is perhaps yet to be fully grasped. The profound and complex changes that this has given rise to in a number of spheres of endeavor are often perceived as a threat in Italy, due to the devastating effects they are having on the status quo, on centers of power, on existing organizational structures, and on employment.
Italy’s food and agriculture industry: a key sector for global markets
Discussions at this National Conference hinged on the central observation that the Italian economy can only be revived by capitalizing on the country’s flagship production sectors, with the food and agricultural industry singled out as being of prime importance. Indeed, it was noted that the sector has continued to be a standard-bearer for “Made in Italy” excellence even amid the economic downturn.
Does Italy need to be re‐industrialized? Models and methods to improve competitiveness
Serving as an opening premise for this meeting of the Former Aspen Junior Fellows was the observation that after years or even decades of being sidelined in economic and political debate, the issue of manufacturing development has made a comeback on the international policymaking scene. Many developed economies have long looked on – passively and sometimes even with a certain smugness – as national manufacturing industries declined, in the belief that the main engine of the economy was, and would increasingly become, the advanced services sector.
A multidisciplinary culture to build a new future: knowledge, capacity to change, responsibility
Discussions at this roundtable got underway with the observation that five years of crisis – triggered by the collapse of the financial sector and constantly compounded by (public and private) financial difficulties – have forced a rethink of the role of industry, which is now called on once again to become an engine of growth. Indeed, the need for a different economic vision, one which combines the kind of tangible and intangible values needed to kick-start new sustainable growth – has seen the production system return to center stage.
Revising the design industry: networks, culture, innovation, and business management
Driving discussions at this national roundtable was an awareness that any attempt at positing a restructure of the Italian design industry must contend with the simultaneously complex yet interesting nature of the way it currently operates.
Does Italy’s important industrial sector still have a future?
Participants at this roundtable session were of a consensus that Italy still has an effective industrial system, and may continue to do so as long as a major restructure is undertaken so as to provide a boost for a great swathe of firms that are currently wavering between the boon of opportunities offered by global growth and the risk of being marginalized.
Governing complexity in the country system: challenges, priorities and Italy’s choices
Debate at this ASL session focused on framing the complexities of Italy’s economic system within an international context widely held to be in a state of crisis. It was submitted that a closer look at the real economy reveals a need to bolster the international competitive ranking of Italian firms and sectors with reforms capable of shaping the future evolution of the country’s education and research sector, the functioning of the labor market, and the banking and financial system.
The banking sector and industry: creating a virtuous cycle to stimulate Italy’s real economy
Kicking off discussions at this national conference was the observation that the current financial crisis, evidently systemic in nature, is predominantly being shaped at this stage by perceived risk factors linked to vulnerabilities in the real economy and the banking system. Efforts in the political, economic and monetary arenas – both at national and European levels – seem to have eased speculative pressures on the markets and tentatively restored international investor confidence.
Growth is possible: doing business in Italy and abroad
For its seventeenth iteration, the Friends of Aspen Annual Conference was held for the first time at the Palazzo Lancellotti in Rome. As well as offering the now customary opportunity to take stock of the group’s activities over the past year, the event also featured an exploration by the participants of the competitive conditions facing Italian businesses today, as well as the global trends unfolding, in both domestic and overseas markets. It was observed that the last fifteen years have marked a milestone in the multinational expansion of Italian industry.
Information services in the security sector: protecting Italy’s financial and industrial system
The participants at this National Roundtable opened the discussion by observing that following the reform of the Italian intelligence services, the activities of the relevant agencies are no longer confined to the protection of the political and military interests of the country, but also extend to defending its “economic, scientific and industrial” interests.
The “green economy”: new opportunities for Italy
The key objective to emerge from the discussions at this National Conference was that of transforming a constraint into an opportunity. The green economy must be made the cornerstone of a new, more sustainable and enduring development model. It was observed that, in recent years, particularly in the wake of the protracted effects of the worst economic and financial crisis in recent history, the world has begun to stop treating the “environmental factor” as a possible limitation on freedom of enterprise, but rather to see it from a more comprehensive perspective.
Italy in 10 years’ time: from crisis to growth
This seminar in the latest ASL series got underway with the observation that the way the current crisis has evolved confirms the necessity of moving beyond ex-post and localized solutions that deal with emergencies country-by-country and as and when they arise. The participants pointed instead to the need for a comprehensive strategy, based on three pillars. The first of these is the adoption of deficit-reduction programs at the national level. The second is the creation of common funds and institutions with more resources and more effective governance.
Putting SMEs on the international scene: innovation and funding
The sixteenth annual conference of the Friends of Aspen was held in the Art Nouveau surrounds of the main hall at the headquarters of the Philological Society of Milan.
The design industry: value added for Italy’s economic growth
Added value of over 140 billion euros and employment for around 3.3 million people: this was the snapshot, in figures, presented at this National Interest roundtable session of the engine of Italy’s manufacturing system, driven by the country’s leading sectors – the so-called “4 Fs” of the Made-in-Italy industry: Ferrari cars and non-electronic machinery and equipment, fashion and clothing, food and beverage, and furniture and wood products.
SMEs: growth and collaboration in a new global scenario
More than three years after the outbreak of the crisis which engulfed the world economy, Italian businesses have shown that they have, on the whole, withstood the impact of the economic and financial tsunami. The country remains the fifth-ranking global manufacturing power and the second in Europe after Germany, running counter to the trend that has seen a progressive reduction in the market shares of traditional industrial economies – the US and Japan in particular.
The industrial system, territory and social cohesion
This seminar got underway with the participants noting that the Italian industrial system has succeeded in weathering the global crisis whilst maintaining the country’s position as a leading manufacturer both in Europe and worldwide. The more or less stable performance of the Italian production system has enabled the economy to respond to stimulus, though the signs of recovery remain weak.