Ten billion in investments in Italy – Ten billion euros in investments and partnerships in various industrial sectors, from luxury goods to aerospace. The visit in Italy of Chinese prime minister Li Keqiang reinforces ties with Beijing thanks to the incoming flow of capital (Reuters, October 14 – Italy and China sign business deals worth $10 billion). The investments will affect sectors such as luxury production, with an agreement between Chinese groups and Fincantieri (Reuters, October 15 – China looks to build first luxury cruise ship with Carnival) and advanced technology with an agreement between Cassa Depositi e Prestiti and the China Development Bank which will involve companies like Finmeccanica (Reuters, October 14 – Italy, China announce investment, aerospace deals).
And while Bloomberg Businessweek discussed the importance of these agreements and the prospects that foreign investments will bring to Italy (October 15 – Italy Seeks to Attract Chinese Investment: Monti;Why Italy Is Attracting Chinese Investors), the English language China Daily explained what was behind the Italian’Chinese agreement stipulated in the Renaissance Palazzo Barberinia in Rome Roma (October 14 – Stunning Italian art may inspire great works by 2 nations).
Industry is not only the area of interest in relations between Italy and Asian investors. The Financial Times ran an article about how real estate is again becoming attractive, as can be seen in the last investment of Singapore GIC in a shopping center in Rome (October 14 – Reforms pave way for Italian property renaissance).
The world of fashion – Along with the economic news, there was still interest in the traditional sectors of Made in Italy. In its blog “On the Runway”, the New York Times gave an overview the latest news of Italian designers (October 9 – More Interesting Moves in Italian Fashion), while other papers concentrated on the growth plans of individual brands. Les Echos reported that Calligaris is planning to open 20 new sales points in France in the next three years, underlining how Italian design continues to seduce the French (October 13 – Le design italien séduit toujours les Français), while Reuters emphasized the prospects of growth, partly through acquisitions, of Tod’s (October 9 – Italy’s Tod’s sees higher sales, talks to buy Roger Vivier in 2015). The Times, on the other hand, went to visit the new atelier of Dolce&Gabbana which has been encouraging its customers to rediscover the pleasure of custom-made clothing (October 15 – Dolce & Gabbana open a new atelier).
The culinary tradition – As usual, the foreign press wrote about Italian cooking traditions. El Pais told its readers about Expo 2015 (October 10 – EXPO MILÁN 2015: “Nutrir el Planeta. Energía para la Vida), the French paper L’Express spoke about Italian cuisine in Marseille (Marseille 1er: la belle Italie de La Salumeria Giuppo), and the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung tasted traditional dishes from Alto Adige (October 15 – Sushikäse aus Südtirol). Finally, the Wall Street Journal wrote about the relationship between culinary culture and art. with Eataly, which brought some sculptures from the Milan Duomo to New York (October 15 – Gargoyles and a Gilded Madonna).
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