“Time to re-invest in Italy” – As the recession persists, emerging countries are still considered a catch for investors. However Nikhil Srinivasan, chief investment officer of Generali, which has a portfolio of 500 billion euro, the German stock market is close to peaking and now it’s time to buy into Southern Europe, particularly Italy (Financial Times July 2 – Generali investment head says Dax has peaked, buy southern Europe*).
Qatar’s sovereign fund is also considering similar investments. According to the foreign press, the emirate’s financial agency is to play a role in the spin-off of Telecom Italia (June 30 in the Financial Times – Telecom Italia in talks with Qatari funds over stake in spin-off* and Valor Económico – Telecom Italia negocia rede fixa).
And there was also an enthusiastic market response to the latest listing on the Milan stock exchange, albeit the smaller AIM index. Prices for Italia Independent, founded by Lapo Elkann, soared after its debut (Financial Times, June 29 – Italia Independent shares surge on Milan debut*).
Homage to Federico Fellini – It has been twenty years since the death of Federico Fellini and there are a growing number of tributes to the Italian director and his carnival of images. The Spanish El Pais published a video gallery (July 2 – Siete grandes de Fellini, en vídeo) and visited the exhibit at the Amersterdam Museum of Cinema (July 1 – Federico Fellini o el carnaval de la imagen).
There was also a tribute to the director of “La Dolce Vita” by colleague Ettore Scola who, as O Globo explained, has returned to the set to film “Che strano chiamarsi Federico” (How Odd to Be Called Federico). Interviewed by the Brazilian paper, Scola also spoke about his own work and the ten years he has spent away from the camera (June 30 – Ettore Scola: ‘A liberdade me fez voltar a filmar’).
Design, tourism and wine – As summer continued, so did the article in the foreign press about life in Italy. The Wall Street Journal traveled to Indonesia to write about the Asian success of Italian designer Valentina Audrito (July 5 – Offbeat in Indonesia), and the New York Times indulged its passion for the Amalfi coast with a new article about vacationing in Ravello (July 5 – Renovation With a View of the Amalfi Coast). Nor was there any lack of reporting on good wine: China Post visited the Biondi-Santi family cantine to investigate the tradition of brunellos (July 5 – Biondi-Santi family’s Tuscany brunellos: ages of pleasure).
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