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Improving performances in both traditional made-in-Italy industries and niche sectors are expected to continue in 2015, local experts said, adding they would create more space for potential foreign investments.
A study conducted by Prometeia, a think tank based in Bologna, said Italian exports of manufactured goods in the first 10 months of 2014 registered a growth of 2.4 percent in all sectors. And the final part of last year showed an improvement of domestic consumption which should strengthen industry recovery this year.
Fashion, furniture, food and technology sectors, such as mechanics and automobile industry, are the industries that have traditionally exported a considerable part of their turnover, up to 80-90 percent, Alessandra Lanza, Head of Industrial and Regional Strategies at Prometeia, told Xinhua.
These sectors are expected to especially benefit from favorable euro-dollar exchange rate, drop in oil prices and the European Central Bank (ECB)'s expansionary monetary policy, she noted.
Besides those, Lanza added, there is a second group of sectors particularly hit by the effects of the economic crisis, such as household electrical appliances and the construction field, which however are expected to also benefit, though to a lesser extent, from the positive factors mentioned above.
And thirdly, there are sectors that have been undertaking modernization steps thus have stronger growth potential, from green technologies to niches with a high tech content, including specialized machinery and components.
"It is clear that in principle the more companies become excellent the less they want foreign capital," Lanza noted. "But size is a crucial issue across all sectors in Italy, especially the traditional ones, which include lots of small enterprises in need for investments to grow and develop," she highlighted.
In general, Italy has never had an industrial policy focused on a particular group of sectors, so that companies have self-organized. The most successful ones have been those able to internationalize and recapitalize during the years of crisis, reducing their dependence on banks.
For this reason, Italy has been characterized by very mixed performances across different industries, compared to other important manufacturing countries such as Germany, Stefania Trenti, Industry Department Head at Intesa Sanpaolo bank, explained to Xinhua.
Mixed performances were also hidden in the basically unchanged 2014 turnover of the country's manufacturing industry, which has seen a selection with many companies forced to close over the past few years, Trenti said. She also expects 2015 to be a year of recovery for the Italian manufacturing.
In her view, pharmaceuticals are an industry with high development potential besides traditional made-in-Italy sectors that will continue to be attractive for foreign investors, helped by a weaker euro combined with improving economic situation in the euro area.
In this more positive context, Trenti told Xinhua, not only small enterprises of excellence can offer foreign investors the opportunity to acquire some productive capacity in Italy, but the reorganization process of bigger companies will also put "interesting strength points on the market."
