After more than 30 years of managerial career in companies oriented to international competition on global markets, Carlo Ferro in January 2019 he assumed the presidency of Ice Agencythe body through which the government promotes the consolidation and economic and commercial development of our companies in foreign markets.
Talking about the impact the Coronavirus is having on the economy, how do you see the situation?
We are currently experiencing a slowdown in world trade which is affecting allWe are currently experiencing a slowdown in world trade that is affecting all Italian companies, both from the point of view of supply, i.e. the ability to have goods to sell abroad, given the standstill in production activities, and from the point of view of demand and also the functionality of the logistics systems that intermediate commercial transactions around the world.
It is difficult for me to make predictions, given that even the most competent body like the World Trade Organisation estimates the fall in international trade in 2020 to be a very wide range, between 12% and 35%. It is clear, however, from the dialogue we have had with businesses that, in different ways from sector to sector, the impact on trade will be evident.
What measures should be put in place to support companies in a situation of deep crisis?
We need to prepare Italian companies to participate in the recovery when world trade picks up, helping them to analyse and have a vision of what the markets will look like from the point of view of the economic geography of demand areas and bilateral relations, but above all from the point of view of marketing channels. I am convinced that when the markets recover, there will be a very strong acceleration in the use of digital channels. In this moment of forced pause, all of us, individuals and companies, have become accustomed to a greater use of digital systems in general and e-commerce in particular, and we will continue to do so in the future, both for personal use but most probably also for electronic purchases.
The ability to resume contacts and transfer the quality of one's offer and product to the world will, in my opinion, take place less and less with events in person and more and more through digital tools. With this in mind, Ice has also taken steps to accelerate this digital evolution of international trade in our country, organising a series of webinars dedicated to different countries, which have shown great participation and interest on the part of companies.
Covid-19 aside, what are the weaknesses of our companies at international level? What can and should be done to consolidate and develop them on foreign markets?
To answer this question, as is my way of thinking, I will start by analysing the figures. If I look at the export figures for electronics, I can see that this is undoubtedly a very important sector for Italian exports, but one that is still relatively weak compared to the export capacity of Made in Italy as a whole. The 40 billion in electronics exports represent a market share of 1.3% of world trade in the sector, compared with an average of 3% for Italian industry. It should also be noted that Italy ranks 9th in international trade, while it ranks only 16th in electronics.
What can this gap be due to and, above all, how can we correct it? Electronics is a sector that reflects great capacity for innovation and investment in R&D, but unfortunately Italian industry spends too little on R&D, on average half of what Germany spends, i.e. 1.5% of manufacturing turnover for Italy compared to 3% for Germany.
Another aspect to be considered is linked to the industrial policies of our country, which over the years have led to the complete loss of certain sectors. Coming from a previous experience of joint ventures between Italy and France, I was able to see for myself that over the last 20 years the evolution of industrial policy, the attention paid to companies and the instruments put in place by the two countries have been completely different, and this is demonstrated by the fact that France's Bull is still there while Olivetti is effectively no more.
My conclusion is that the reason for this does not lie in the DNA and strategic adaptability of the two companies, but in the different willingness of the governments of the time to finance the transformation of their presence in the world of electronics. There is also a structural aspect to be considered, that of the particular fabric of Italian industry, which is characterised by the presence of small and medium-sized companies; SMEs, structurally, tend to be, due to their scale and size, less organised to deal with exports. What more can be done? Help small and medium-sized enterprises in the electronics supply chain to be more present in foreign markets by using the 'country system' and the large players in the chain.
Let me give you just one example: in the aerospace sector, where we have two major players such as Leonardo and Avio, when we take our offer abroad, together with them there are hundreds of companies that are part of the national know-how of the sector. We therefore need a supply chain approach that can also give visibility to SMEs, and we need to be closer to these small and medium-sized enterprises, also as an ICE agency. It is precisely with this in mind that we have decided to return to being present in the region through systematic weekly desks, where companies can find an Ice official in their region, one day a week, to act as a bridge for essential services, i.e. those useful for starting export activities, which we provide in our 78 offices around the world.
<<L’elettronica è un settore che riflette grande capacità di innovazione e di investimenti in Ricerca & Sviluppo, ma purtroppo l’industria italiana spende troppo poco in attività di R&S, mentre le politiche industriali del nostro Paese, negli anni, hanno portato alla completa perdita di alcune filiere>>
CArlo FErro, president Ice
You have also recently revised the Agency's catalogue of services and extended the free services offered to companies with fewer than 100 employees. What are the objectives and what tools have been put in place?
As of last 1 April, we have reclassified the traditional support and consultancy activities offered, such as the search for foreign customers and partners, distributors of customs agents, and local promoters, making these services free of charge for small and medium-sized enterprises. A successful initiative, as evidenced by the fact that, despite the current stoppage due to the health emergency, we have already received applications for services from 2,200 companies. What we need to do for electronics, but also for other sectors, is to increase the structural and systematic capacity to deal with foreign markets.
Italy has only 126,000 companies that are systematic exporters and this number absolutely must be increased. To do this, we need an entrepreneurial component of strategies and investments, but above all we need a system component that provides the support conditions to do so: more services, more activities, more missions, more presence in the territory, more digital and the possibility of being present under the umbrella of government missions.
Since electronics is the child of innovation, and innovation is born with start-ups, Agenzia Ice has tripled the promotional investment dedicated to them, and has launched important programmes to promote their presence at major international industry events. An example of this is what we did at the last edition of Ces in Las Vegas, where we brought 45 Italian start-ups, also supported, for the first time, by a governmental presence with the visit of the Minister for Innovation. Next year we will double the space available to them and bring over 100 start-ups.
Also worth mentioning is the launch of the 'Global Start-up Program', a programme that allows emerging and innovative Italian companies to spend four months at foreign accelerators. Last year's first edition had about 100 participants that we took to 6 countries, and we are currently launching the call for applications for the new edition, which will target 150 start-ups in 10 different countries. This is a way of accompanying innovation and internationalisation in a virtuous path, and one that brings attention back to the inclusion of young people and to digital. I am convinced that the electronics industry is a fundamental facilitator of the development and growth of all sectors, from agri-food to shipping.
For many Italian technology companies, foreign markets remain an essential channel for development. Are there any specific actions to support these companies?
Definitely. This is why, among the various actions to help Italian companies recover and reposition themselves on the markets, we have implemented an initiative called "Fiera Smart 365". In fact, we think that, in the short term, for the recovery of the trade fair system it is important to equip it with operating tools, including virtual trade fairs, that allow remote visitors to participate in trade fairs, to transfer the "look and feel" of their presence, to exchange digital catalogues, and to have interactive chats.
The medium-term vision is to have a trade fair 365 days a year, without in any way detracting from the centrality of the physical trade fair, i.e. maintaining the 4/5 days of the event in the trade fair district, but then giving visitors and exhibitors the opportunity for the other 360 days a year to be part of a qualified and certified social network, in which they can continue to do business. A project that has already been launched, which will be ready in July with the first module of the virtual fair and will subsequently be enriched with the b2b module 365 days a year.
