Investor Visa Italy Investor Visa Italy / 1 | Página 4

INVESTOR VISA ITALY
Attracting investments from abroad,
a priority for Italian foreign policy
by Angelino Alfano
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation
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he most most difficult economic crisis of the post-World War II era is
at last giving way to a phase of economic development. Many factors
helped Italy to overcome these hard times: the social fabric could
count on its traditional safety nets; the production system, with its thousands
of small- and medium-sized businesses, made use of its ability to combine
tradition and innovation to maintain its competitiveness on international
markets; the Government began a courageous reform path of which, now,
we can reap the benefits.
Reforms take time to show their effects, but in the short term they have
the aim of creating an economic environment which is more favourable to
Italian companies and more welcoming for foreign investors. Indeed, foreign
investments represent an essential component for the smooth running of the
economy of any country. Italy, too, can only benefit from an increased influx
of foreign capital since this can increase the presence of our small- and
medium-sized businesses on international markets, and encourage invest-
ments in new technologies and modern production methods.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, (MAECI)
stands at the core of the Government action supporting the Italian production
system with the implementation of a dynamic economic diplomacy, focused
on the needs of companies, whether they are already operating abroad or
intend to commence internationalization.
At Farnesina we have created a specific unit with the task of represent-
ing a reference point for foreign investors, and to support our Ambassadors
and Consuls, the first port of call for both the largest institutional or private
investors in their reference countries. MAECI is also pursuing an integrated
promotion strategy which aims at relaunching the Italy’s presence abroad: a
strategy that led to participating in more than five thousand events in the
last two years. The Italian Trade Agency has now nine FDI-desks, with highly
qualified personnel, in those countries where it is probable that investments
could originate (San Francisco, New York, London, Istanbul, Dubai, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Beijing and Tokyo). MAECI and Borsa Italiana (the Italian Stock
Exchange) signed a memorandum of understanding to ease contact between
listed companies and international investors.
Attracting foreign investors has become an integral part of the activities
of the Steering Committee for Italy’s internationalisation, and MAECI rein-
forced its commitment in the Interministerial FDI Committee at the Ministry
of Economic Development. This Committee supports investment projects by
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formulating national strategies for each sector. Although Italy is lagging
behind the main European economies (in 2016 Great Britain and Spain
attracted investments up to almost 45% of their GDP, France reached a little
over 28%, and Germany 22.2%, while Italy only 18.7%) the latest data are
encouraging. According to the United Nations Conference for Trade and
Development (UNCTAD), foreign investments grew from 19 to 29 billion USD
(from 2015 to 2016), thus allowing Italy to pass from the 17th to 13th position
in the world’s ranking of investment destination countries.
n this framework, an entry visa policy is crucial. We have worked to
ensure that the bureaucratic procedures of issuing visas for foreign
entrepreneurs and managers, partners of Italian entrepreneurs and first
clients of Made in Italy production, be easier and faster. The Italian diplomatic-
consular network is committed to reducing the time needed to deal with
visas for commercial purposes, without compromising the controls required
to guarantee all aspects of security. In 2016, diplomatic and consular offices
abroad dealt with 178,074 business visa applications and we expect to
surpass this level by the end of 2017.
Three years ago, the “Start-up Visa” was introduced in order to attract
creative and innovative companies, and at this very time the new “Investor
Visa” is going into effect: this visa will ease entry and sojourn in Italy for
production and financial investors. This is an important innovation, and even
though we will be able to verify its impact only in the long run, it is useful to
underline at least two of its peculiarities compared to similar measures
adopted by some of our European partners.
Firstly, the Italian law does not provide for any facilitations for mere
investments in real estate since our aim was to endorse production and
financial investments, in particular those concerning start-up companies.
Secondly, from a perspective of integrated promotion and considering the
empathy and recognition gained abroad by the extraordinary Italian heritage,
the law also includes philanthropic donations benefiting culture and projects
dealing with the preservation of cultural assets and landscape heritage
among the activities which entitle application to the visa.
With these initiatives and this attitude Farnesina confirms its commitment
in support of the Italian economy by regulating the increasing investments and
economic development.
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