(Adnkronos) – Latin America is a vast market that Italian companies must tap into as the landmark European Union-Mercosur free trade agreement enters in force this week and the future now lies in joint ventures, according to Giorgio Silli, head of the International Italo-Latin American Organisation (IILA) and former foreign undersecretary.
“Latin America has changed and can be a huge market. A place where we can internationalise and go to produce something, and at the same time attract investment into our country,” Silli told reporters on the sidelines of a business forum in the Italian textiles hub of Prato, Tuscany, late on Monday.
“These are huge markets, with tens if not hundreds of millions of consumers. These countries are becoming not just recipients of investment from Europe, but also potential investors in Italy,” Silli said.
Silli said he is putting together the resources for “a major economic cooperation project “to build a pool of young Latin American and Italian entrepreneurs.”
“We want to move towards the establishment of joint-venture companies, because that is the future,” said Silli, who worked extensively in Italy and abroad managing major textiles firms, and whose family has has owned textiles dyeing businesses since the 1700s.
The global tariffs wars being waged by the administration of United States president Donald Trump is transforming decision-making by companies on where to produce, Silli underlined.
“Tariffs are calling the shots; the world is changing…I come from the textiles world, and I am realising that since the start of the Trump presidency, it is no longer automatically advantageous to manufacture in the Far East,” Silli continued.
“Barriers have been erected through tariffs, while in Latin America they have been dismantled, As a result, for a sector such as textiles and clothing, manufacturing in South America is starting to look attractive,” he said.
“It is crucial to work with Italy’s economic players, with the foreign ministry’s Directorate-General for Economic Development and with the EU,” Silli stated.
The economic forum “Italy, Europe and Latin America: the time for a shift towards a new strategic centrality. Growth Prospects and Mercosur’ was organised by IILA and the foreign ministry with the support of Italy’s trade agency (ICE).
Forum guests included over 160 representatives from the Italian private sector and Latin American companies, industrial unions from various countries in the region and the main Italian business associations. The event revolved around sectors with the greatest internationalization potential including: mechanical engineering, chemical-pharmaceutical, clothing-footwear, and agribusiness.
