ADVISORY BOARD WPP 2017 Burson-Marsteller WHY ITALY IS definitely ALIVE & KICKING INTRODUCTION After the long crisis that began in 2008, since 2014 Italy has registered a turnaround The contextual factors, on the other hand, are encouraging. The orientation of and seen a return to growth which continues and is confirmed also in 2016. monetary policies at the international level remains extremely accommodating: the The forecast data for 2017 (+1.3% -1.5% ) and 2018 (+1.0% -1.3% ) published by European ECB continues to favor exceptionally expansive monetary conditions and guarantees Commission confirm the continuation of this gradual expansion of Italy in a the member states a facility of access to credit never before seen in history, with European context that seems to have refound vigor, with growth expected to be interest rates at historic minimums. The price of oil remains low and settled at between +1.9% and 2.2% in 2017 despite the worsening of geopolitical tensions in between 45 and 50 dollars per barrel in the past year, after having bottomed out some areas of the world, the emergence of structural weaknesses especially with at 26 dollars per barrel in February 2016. Notwithstanding the instability caused by reference to the emerging countries, the tensions fueled by the massive migratory the Brexit vote and by the outcome of the elections in the United States – which flows towards Europe, and terrorism. inaugurated the era of Trumponomics, still today hard to assess – the results of elections in several European countries, such as France and Austria, for example, With specific reference to Italy, however, the pace of this growth remains slower have weakened the anti-European push of some political movements. than the European average, with consumption showing conflicting signals, a gap between the country’s North and South that refuses to close, and a dynamic of In this framework, the positive signals that Italy confirms that isdefinitely alive and public and private investment that is still not sustained enough to strengthen the kicking and that it finds itself in the right conditions for being able to compete, positive trends in progress, which are chiefly tied to the good trends of exports and thanks to its excellences, in some big European challenges, first and foremost that of of the manufacturing sector. the attraction to Milan of the EMA (European Medicines Agency), which currently is headquartered in London. To confirm the growth estimates of the leading monitoring institutions and to enable Italy to “run” at the same speed as the other economies of the Eurozone, the In addition, many strong points remain which Italy can leverage to drive growth country must tackle in a cohesive manner a number of critical points that affect in the near future and communicate its image abroad with more incisiveness. To give our economy, such as unemployment, the low productivity of some economic a few examples: sectors, and growing geographic disparities. n In 2016 Italy’s exports world-wide were 417 billion euros (up 4.6% from 2014), recognition in the field of our country’s quality and know-how. 2 ADVISORY BOARD WPP 2017 WHY ITALY IS definitely ALIVE & KICKING 3 INTRODUCTION n The trade results achieved both inside and outside of Europe enabled Italy to All this is possible thanks to the presence, in the country, of great entrepreneurial expand its market share of global commerce from 2.7% in 2013 to 3.0% in 2016. excellences that contribute to promote Italy’s image abroad, with a focus on n The surplus of Italy’s trade balance in 2016 reached a record 51.6 billion euros. innovation, sustainability, the value of Made in Italy, and high-quality skills. In particular, the manufacturing datum stayed positive (90.5 billion euros) and Like every year, in this pamphlet we recount the histories of ten of these successful places Italy among the world’s top five countries with the highest manufacturing enterprises, subdividing them into two groups that provide the “Reason Why” and surpluses (together with China, Germany, Japan and South Korea). the guiding thread of our story: n Italy leads the world for the number of sites classified by UNESCO in its world n Best Case: companies that have distinguished themselves for particular levels of cultural heritage list (51 in 2017), in front of China (50), Spain (45), France (42) and competitiveness, orientation towards innovation, and internationalization. Germany (42). n Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): companies that have made acquisitions/ n In addition, Italy is the leading country of the European Union by number of productive investiments in Italy to develop their own business. scientific references per researcher(0.61), outpacing the United Kingdom (0.40) and France (0.32), and is the third country in the world by number of scientific These companies are not necessarily the best or the most innovative in their publications in the last decade, confirming the great quality of our human capital. sectors, nor do they represent the sole cases of success in Italy, but their strategic n 58.8 billion euros is the value added of the agri-food sector, three times the and investment choices testify to the strength of Italy, which today, more than ever, automotive of France and Spain and more than double the sum of aerospace is definitely alive and kicking. of France, Germany and the United Kingdom. At world level, our country ranks second by value of wine exports (5.6 billion euros), behind France. 4 ADVISORY BOARD WPP 2017 WHY ITALY IS definitely ALIVE & KICKING 5 ATLANTIA Planning, development and management of motorway and airport infrastructures Atlanta was founded as the Società Autostrade Concessioni e Costruzioni at the initiative and of automated payment systems for mobility. of IRI (Istituto per la Ricostruzione Industriale) in 1950. REASON WHY In 1956, it began to build and finance the Autostrada del Sole between Milan and Naples, connecting Italy’s North and South. A global player in the sector of motorway and airport infrastructure, Atlantia manages 5,000 km of toll motorways present in Italy, Brazil, Chile, India and Poland, and also manages Fiumicino and Upon completion of the works in 1964, it obtained a concession for managing the Ciampino airports in Italy and the three airports of Nice, Cannes-Mandelieu and Saint-Tropez infrastructure. In 1999, it was privatized and IRI was succeeded by a stable core of in France. It is a leading technological company and number one in the world in electronic toll collection and infomobility. It has undertaken an important process of international development of stockholders headed by the Benetton Group. its activities, continuing to invest in Italy. During 2003 the activities in concession were separated from the non-motorway business and Autostrade per l’Italia was born, 100% controlled by Atlantia. KEY FACTS AND FIGURES In 2016, the company’s revenues reached 5.5 billion euros, up 3.4% from 2015, with an EBITDA of 3.38 In 2005, it introduced the first system in the world for monitoring the average speed on billion euros (61.6% of revenues), profits of 1.1 billion euros the motorway network. Also in 2005, it struck out on a path of international acquisitions (20.5% of revenues) and personnel figures averaging nearly Rome that has led it to manage, today, some 2,000 km of toll motorways in Brazil, Chile, India 15,000 employees. Lazio and Poland. Listed on the stock exchange in July 2017, it boasts a Italy capitalization of 21.5 billion euros. In 2013, it entered the airport sector, managing the two Rome airports of Fiumicino and The motorway network, used by 5 million customers every Ciampino. day, has over 4,500 closed-circuit TV cameras and 2,100 sensors for constantly monitoring the safety and fluidity of In 2016, it consolidated its presence in the sector with the acquisition of Aéroports de la the infrastructure. Côte d’Azur (ACA), the company that controls the airports of Nice, Cannes-Mandelieu and Saint-Tropez. 6 ADVISORY BOARD WPP 2017 WHY ITALY IS definitely ALIVE & KICKING 7 BIESSEGROUP The company designs, develops and realizes machinery for processing wood, Founded by Giancarlo Selci in Pesaro in 1969 with the aim of designing, realizing and advanced materials, glass, stone and metals. distributing machines for processing wood, in the late 1970s and early 1980s it launched on the market the first numerically controlled drilling machine for wood and the first REASON WHY numerically controlled wood processing center. A world leader in the production of machines for working wood, glass, and stone, the company has embarked on an expansion of its activities in market sectors and industries related to its core In the late 1980s, it entered the sector of the design, realization and distribution of business based on the technology it has developed. It has a strong international presence and gets machines for working glass and stone and created the Intermac business unit, which in a 85% of its revenues from outside of Italy. short time conquered a leading position in glass. In 1989, it began an internationalization process by opening its first branch abroad (USA). KEY FACTS AND FIGURES In 2016, its revenues reached 618 million euros, up 19.1% over 2015, with an EBITDA of 75.8 million In 1991, it created the Mechatronics business unit for the design, realization and euros (12.3% of revenues) and profits of 29.5 million euros. distribution of electromechanical components, that is, all the high technological value It is staffed by more than 3,800 employees throughout the world working in 30 different branches components for its own machines.