FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chicago USA & Rome, Italy November 5, 2014
Italian Trade Agency and SelectUSA aim to promote business cooperation and investment between the United States and Italy.
The Italian Trade Agency ("ICE-Agenzia") and The SelectUSA Initiative ("SelectUSA") are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Intent ("MOI") on November 5, 2014 in Rome, Italy, with the common purposes of increasing cooperation between the United States and Italy to stimulate the economic development and the flow of private capital of both countries and desiring to strengthen the cooperation between the participants in promoting foreign direct investment from each participant's country to the other participant's country.
Italy is one of the top sources of FDI in the United States with a total stock value of $38.4 billion in 2013. Italian subsidiaries in the US employ over 120,700 US workers, providing average annual salaries of over $70,000. In 2011, Italian US subsidiaries invested over $1.7 billion in R&D and contributed to almost $20 Billion to US goods exported. Between 2003 and 2014 of the 300 major projects conducted by Italian subsidiaries in the US, which represent a total capital investment of over $13.4 Billion, over 33% were in manufacturing sectors.
The MOI outlines the steps that The Italian Trade Agency and SelectUSA intend to take to cooperate with each other to enhance their ability to carry out their missions in each other's country. The MOI provides a strong example of the positive steps that the two countries' governments are taking to advance commercial ties between them. The MOI was signed on behalf of the Italian Trade Agency by Riccardo Maria Monti, President and on behalf of SelectUSA by Vinai Thummalapally Executive Director.
The Italian Trade Agency is the government organization which promotes the internationalization of the Italian companies, in line with the strategies of the Ministry of Economic Development, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Italian Trade Agency provides information, support and advice to Italian and foreign companies. The Agency has five offices in the US, one of the highest numbers for any foreign government trade agency in the country.
The SelectUSA Initiative ("SelectUSA") is a program within Global Markets, International Trade Administration, United States Department of Commerce, which facilitates business investment in the United States in order to create jobs, spur economic growth, and promote American competitiveness. Located in the Department of Commerce, SelectUSA promotes the United States as the world's premier business location and provides easy access to federal-level programs and services related to business investment.