Incoming investments and internationalization of Italian companies – This week, the foreign press once again focused on economic events in Italy. While the primary interest was in economic policy, there were also articles on investments, both foreign capital coming to Italy and Italian companies that are growing abroad. The spotlight shown on the purchase of Valentino by the royal family of Qatar. The news was announced on July 13, and attracted attention because of the fame of the brand (a “legend” of fashion) among the major papers in Europe El Mundo – La familia real de Qatar compra Valentino por 700 millones; Le Figaro – Le Qatar s’offre la maison italienne Valentino; Financial Times – Qatari buyers acquire Italy luxury groups*) Asia (The China Post – Qatar group buys fashion house Valentino) and, obviously the Middle East (Gulf News – Doha firm buys Valentino).
The foreign press also set aside some space to investments and international expansion of Italian companies. The Jakarta Post reported that Pirelli was given authorization for construction of a 126 million dollar factory in Indonesia (July 13 – Pirelli gets nod for $126m plant in RI), while – according to The Hindu Business, Fiat is trying to speed up its expansion in India (July 9 – Fiat ‘ stepping on it’ to speed up India plans). The Italian firm Moleskin is also developing abroad, with plans to be quoted in the stock market (Financial Times, July 7 – Moleskine to test volatile market with IPO; Valor Economico, July 9 – Moleskine planeja IPO em outubro*).
Vittorio Grilli and leaders in the worlds of culture and research – Based on the number of comments in the foreign press, the top Italian figures of the week included Vittorio Grilli, Italy’s new financial minister. There were numerous articles about him after he was sworm in by Mario Monti (July 12, Les Echos – Italie : Vittorio Grilli nommé au poste de ministre des Finances*; The China Post – Italy ppoints new finance minister to replace Monti, Le Monde – M. Monti se choisit un successeur au ministère de l’économie pour poursuivre la “guerre”*; Valor Economico – Primeiro-ministro italiano nomeia novo ministro da Economia e Finanças). There were also articles on leaders in research and culture. El Pais reported on the appointment of Caterina Biscari as the head of the Spanish particle accelerator (July 11 – Caterina Biscari, nueva directora del sincrotrón Alba), while Süddeutsche Zeitung interviewed Carla Di Francesco, director of the Department of Cultural and Landscape Assets of the Region of Emilia Romagna, on the damage from the earthquake (July 7 – Stein um Stein).
Music, art and tourism – As always, there was no lack of attention to music, art and tourism. The Financial Times paid tribute to Luca Signorelli, a master of the Renaissance (July 8 – Luca Signorelli, Perugia, Orvieto, Città di Castello), while La Vanguardia praised the performance of Mozart at the Arena of Verona (July 9 – Gran Mozart en Verona*). The Barcelona paper also stopped at Anzola Emilia to visit a museum of ice cream, an Italian product that employees over 10 thousand people (La Vanguardia, July 10 – Italia, orgullosa de su ‘gelato’, le abre un museo*).
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