Focus on … Foreign Trade
An Italian Institute for Foreign Trade and Italian industrial union convention was held in November in Tel Aviv, with the goal of strengthening commercial and industrial relations with Israel.
During the convention, some 100 representatives of various Italian companies met with Israeli representatives to discuss cooperation and joint ventures.
"In 2008, export from Italy to Israel rose by 10%, and import from Israel grew by 19%. There are still many options to increase this data," said Adolfo Urso, the deputy minister for economic development in Italy. Italian banking representatives also attended the convention. "The banks in Italy would like to expand their activity in Israel," said Domenico Santasecca, president of the Italian Bank Association (ABI) (“Italian industrialists visit Israel,” Ynetnews.com, 25 Nov 2008).
