Italy boasted record levels of growth in 2017. Exports grew by 7.4 percent, valued at a total of about 450 billion euros. The leading exports were in technology-intensive sectors like the automotive industry, pharmaceuticals, and machines. This high growth, the highest since before the Eurozone financial crisis, comes a year after Michele Scannavini was named President of the Italian Trade Promotion Agency (ITA) in mid-2016. His mission: to promote the internationalisation of Italian companies by driving Italian exports.

“Export has been, in the latest years, the key driving force for Italian GDP growth. Actually, if we exclude 2017, where we also have seen some good signs in internal consumption and on investment, it has been the only real growing factor,” said Scannavini. “So export is vital for the Italian economy and the Italian Trade Agency is there to support Italian companies to export more products abroad.”