(Adnkronos) – Instruments worth over a billion euros are being rolled out to support the development of Italian products in markets with the highest growth potential, notably Latin America and Africa, Italian state lender CDP’s service provider Simest said on Tuesday in a statement.
The tools will help energy-intensive companies that have been hardest-hit by rising energy costs. Two dedicated equity sections worth 200 million euros will also support growth and infrastructure investments abroad by Italian companies, the statement said.
The package of instruments is part of an exports action plan unveiled by Italy’s foreign minister and deputy premier Antonio Tajani at Villa Madama in Rome last week, the statement noted.
A 500 million euro package is available for investment and export growth in Latin America. The package includes a new EUR 200 million ‘plafond’ of subsidised finance for the competitiveness of Italian supply chains and companies in Central and South America and a dedicated EUR 300 million ‘plafond’ to support the competitiveness of export orders of Italian companies in the region, said the statement.
New expenditure and recipients have been included that can be financed in line with the instrument included in the government’s 5.5 billion euro ‘Mattei’ Plan to accelerate Africa’s economic growth. And the ‘digital’ and ‘green transition’ instruments have been expanded to support energy-intensive enterprises, the statement said.
An initial 200 million euros with a 10% reserve is dedicated to youth and women’s enterprises and innovative SMEs and start-ups. All companies accessing the instruments for Africa will benefit from non-repayable co-financing of up to 10%, a figure which rises to 20% for companies in Italy’s under-developed south or ‘Mezzogiorno’. The companies will also be exempt from the provision of guarantees, according to the statement.
The instruments “represent an act of strategic and concrete support for the international growth of Italian companies,” said Simest’s managing director, Regina Corradini D’Arenzio.
To be implemented by the foreign ministry, the instruments will boost Italy’s presence “in key markets with high potential for development, with a specific focus on Latin America and Africa”, said Corradini D’Arenzio.
“We are aiming to significantly expand the number of partner companies, extending the operation of the instruments to small non-exporting companies in production chains, with a focus on training too, to help bridge the labour gap encountered by our entrepreneurs,” Corradini D’Arenzio said.
The new package aim to strengthen Italy’s economy and the international competitiveness of Italian goods “in full cooperation with other development agencies” and “under the leadership of the ministry of foreign affairs, which also has an international trade brief,” she underlined.
