NJ Companies Can Increase Global Footprint - in Italy

October 5, 2009

NEWARK, N.J., Oct. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hon. Mayor Cory Booker will be among the welcoming speakers at the first-ever "Doing Business with Italy" Symposium set for Oct. 16 at the N.J. Performing Arts Center.

Caren Franzini, CEO of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority and the Hon. Andrea Barbaria, of the Consulate of Italy, will also deliver welcoming remarks before the day-long event gets fully underway. The symposium, sponsored by the NJ/Italy Trade Council, will provide critical business information to anyone either looking to do business in Italy, or seeking an alliance with an Italian company coming into New Jersey.

With today's market conditions being what they are, New Jersey businesses must look abroad for new opportunities. The fact is: all New Jersey companies should be looking at the fastest growing markets for increased exports.

Enter Italy. New Jersey's Trade with Italy increased year-over-year since 2002. In that time, exports to Italy grew from $456,360,611 in 2002 to $1,377,823,539 in 2007.

    --  Italy has a diverse industrial economy, the seventh largest in the world
        and the fourth largest in the European Union (EU).
    --  Italy represents a large and affluent market and offers countless
        opportunities for businesses seeking to expand global sales and exports,
        with almost 60 million consumers and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
        ranked fourth in the EU.

    --  Italy is the United States' 19th largest export market. In 2008, U.S.
        exports to Italy totaled $15.4 billion, an increase of 9.39 percent over
        the previous year.

The NJ/Italy Trade Council is an important catalyst for improving and increasing trade between New Jersey and Italy. In an effort to create more jobs in both Italy and New Jersey, the Council invites New Jersey business leaders to this exciting symposium to find out more about how NJ/Italy partnerships can increase the bottom lines of both business and the national economies, at large.

Several panel discussions, breakout sessions and plenty of networking time will be allotted during the day-long symposium. The impressive expanding list of panelists will join together to discuss several informative topics including: Economic Incentives for Doing Business in Italy, the Fundamentals of Importing and Exporting, and Accounting, Financial and Legal Structuring for Overseas Alliances. A fun networking cocktail party will follow an afternoon of breakout sessions focusing on specific technology sectors such as renewable and alternative energies, real estate investments, food and beverage and life sciences.

For more information about the NJ/Italy Trade Council or the upcoming symposium including a full schedule of seminars and listing of speakers, visit http://nj-italytrade.org/doing-business-in-italy.

SOURCE New Jersey Technology Council