Made in Italy: 500 millions euros to support export

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Jun 26, 2015

The Italian confederation of textile and fashion companies SMI has renewed its partnership with the bank Intesa Sanpaolo for the 3rd time.

As part of the bargain: an upper limit of 500 million euros for various projects designed to internationalize Italian SMEs, the objective being to specifically respond to the needs of each company wishing to expand into new markets.

As part of the agreement, the bank will offer consulting services specialized in business and financial consulting in a hundred or so markets, as well as training programs focused on internationalization. It will also allow SMEs to access digital platforms so that they will be able to more easily contact foreign partners. 

"Italian fashion industry exports accounted for 28.5 billion euros, or 54.7% of total turnover of textiles and clothing in 2014. In Q1, sales abroad grew by 1% and are expected to increase by 6% over the course of 2015. Export drives made in Italy and is necessary to develop our businesses, both large and small," said Sistema Modal Italia (SMI) president Claudio Marenzi in a statement welcoming the agreement.