Economy – The forecasts are for rising economic growth and a new push towards privatization as the foreign press again takes a close look at the Italian economy. Up front are the previsions from Bankitalia that show an increase in the GDP (+0.7% this year, +1.5% next year) as reported by Reuters (July 17 – Bank of Italy raises GDP forecasts for 2015-16) and Les Echos (July 17 – Italie : La banque centrale relève sa prévision de croissance 2015-16).
There was also interest in speculation on a possible fall stock market listing of Poste italiane, an operation that – according to several foreign papers – could lead to earnings of 4 billion euro (Financial Times, July 19 – Italy to list €4bn stake in post office on Milan stock exchange*; Reuters, July 16 – Italy’s Post Office eyes share offering in late Oct; Les Echos, July 21 – L’Italie donne le coup d’envoi de la privatisation de sa Poste*).
Moreover, the storm seems to have left the financial markets after the agreement between Greece and its creditors, as can be seen in the excellent performance of Italian bonds, as reported by Bloomberg (July 20 – Italy Bond Gains Push Yield to 7-Week Low as Greece Repays Debt). However, as Emma Marcegaglia, president of ENI explained in an interview with Les Echos, now that the Greek crisis is over, governance in the Eurozone needs to be improved to better investment conditions (July 20 – Emma Marcegaglia: « Il faut réformer d’urgence la gouvernance de la zone euro»*).
Fashion – The spotlight was also on fashion. The New York Times reported on the 20 million euro investment plan promoted by the Italian government to increase the present of Italian bands on the U.S. market (July 21 – Get Ready: Italy Has a ‘Special Fashion Plan’ for the United States*), while Reuters traveled to northern Italy to see the rebirth of silkworm production there (Reuters, July 17 – Italy’s silkmakers spin a niche to revive dormant industry). And an article to Elio Fiorucci, a designer who contributed so much to adding democracy and globalizing the world of fashion was of course de rigeur (The Times, July 21 – Elio Fiorucci*).
Local cuisine and the agrifood businss – The usual interest in Italian food was not limited to suggestion on how to make dishes like fumarole chicken (New York Times, July 22 – Chicken Baked With Potatoes, Cherry Tomatoes and Herbs; New York Times, July 21 – Food Writer Seeks Story and Finds It Buried in the Sand*) and mackerel in sweet and sour sauce (Sueddeutsche Zeitung July 18 – Süßsaures Italien) And the German Handelsblatt went to Bologna to discover the secrets of Italian ice-cream at the Carpigiani Gelato University (July 17 – Die Welt, eine Eisekugel)
Finally, the foreign press found time to discuss the strategies of internationalization of a brand name in the agrifood sector, like Lavazza, which is aiming to expand to France with its acquisition of Carte Noire (Les Echos, July 21 –Café : Lavazza revient dans la course pour s’emparer de Carte Noire*; L’Express, July 22 – Lavazza veut s’offrir Carte Noire).
* marked articles viewable online upon payment or registration