The minister: “The country is a great opportunity for our businesses”
The Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo bear met a delegation from today at Palazzo Piacentini Saudi entrepreneurs and investors led by the President of the Saudi-Italian Business Council Kamel Al Munajjed. During the meeting, the main issues related to the strengthening of trade and economic relations between the two countries were addressed in the framework of a progressive consolidation of the strategic partnership.
Italo-Saudi economic relations are experiencing a very positive moment and relations are gradually expanding. The value of trade, after the contraction recorded in the two-year period 2019-20, returned to growth and in 2022 reached 11.5 billion (+41%). The Made in Italy it continues to be identified with luxury brands, but exports in the machinery, chemical-pharmaceutical, infrastructure and construction and agro-food sectors are also growing. There is a strong presence of Italian operators in Riyadh in the energy industry sectors with fruitful collaborations in various fields with the national oil company Saudi Aramco. Looking ahead, there are potential developments also in the fields of art, culture and tourism. Of particular interest for Italian companies are the so-called “giga-projects”, highly automated urban agglomerations. Finally, it should be noted that the Saudi sovereign wealth fund Pif is increasing its investments in Italy by targeting the luxury segments in the automotive, shipbuilding and hotel sectors.
Activities made possible also thanks to the introduction at the Ministry of tools to stimulate theattraction of foreign capitalsuch as the one-stop shop for companies designed to support and simplify the activities of foreign companies in Italy and the creation of a fund of 5 million per year to attract investments.
“Saudi Arabia represents a great opportunity for our businesses – said Minister Urso – and in parallel Saudi companies show great interest in coming to invest in Italy. In this context, I hope that the activity of the Italian-Saudi Business Council can produce ever more concrete results. Our commitment remains to create the best conditions for attracting capital from abroad and I trust that the Saudi Sovereign Fund will increase its investments in Italy by focusing in particular on the excellence of our Made in Italy”.