In my first year as president of Treviso Chamber of Commerce, I am honoured to celebrate the 200th anniversary of its foundation.
With such a proud past behind us, we look ahead to the third century of existence of this Chamber.

RECONNECTING TO INTERNATIONAL DEMAND
During this period, local economy benefited from its usual international market openness.
Our exports recovering as soon as world trade recovered could not be a foregone conclusion, after the crisis has occurred and the economic geography has been reshaped.
Fortunately, local economy bounced back and, for some sectors, the ability to diversify rapidly with a view to opportunities arising in emerging economies has been noteworthy.

Overall exports from Treviso (€ 9.9 billion worth) are growing again: +10.7% compared with the previous year. Obviously, this is a bounce back after severe downturn in 2009 (-17.2%). Exports would need € 1 billion more to get back to pre-crisis sales levels (provided such goal is realistic within the new scenarios outlined). This having been said, it is impossible not to acknowledge that our industrial chains are extremely able to react and diversify.

I can mention the machinery sector, more and more accepted as an industrial chain of custom-made technology, which makes the most of its opportunities, above all from emerging economies and whose sales increased, in those markets - especially China -, by 380 millions compared to 2009. Such growth largely compensates for downturns in Europe (-338 millions).
One more mention for the plastics industry, credited for international supply for the automotive, household appliances and medical sectors: it also succeeded in exceeding pre-crisis export levels, thanks to significant recovery in Germany and France.

As for the fashion system, modification of the scenario led to supplementary afterthought on models of production internationalisation, leading to further failure in the locally based value chain.

Anyway, I would like to remind that, along with the sector's most renowned components, in Treviso still remain rare textiles manufacturing well qualified on foreign markets, and the same applies to technical lines of the sport system industry.
Last but not least, I would like to point out the typical and authentic chains, that is, those taking local, crafted products and items around the world:  particularly, the agrifood and the wine-growing sectors, which are becoming more and more important to local economy.
Wine exports towards Germany in 2010 almost reached € 100 million, in the EU27 they grew by 9.1% and in the USA they registered +30%.

These results further consolidate several segments in the industrial chain: not only the processing industries, but also agricultural holdings that, thanks to cooperation with the industry, are experiencing advanced interaction forms, also by means of substantial technological and organisational investments.

Read the whole remark in English: it includes comments on future challenges, internationalisation and the need for "shared value"



Adapted and translated by trevisosystem.com m.b.