Prospects for South Tyrol’s export business
This report examines the export activity of South Tyrol and the companies responsible for it. The structure and the development of exports are investigated based on administrative data (ISTAT COE). The enterprise survey, on the other hand, answers the following questions: Which strategies do exporters pursue to win customers abroad? Which markets are interesting? What difficulties do companies encounter when it comes to export activity? The South Tyrolean economy showed its resilience to the crises, which have shaped the last decade, and was able to recover faster than most of the other regions in Italy and Europe. The ability to persist on foreign markets was decisive in this respect. Exports from South Tyrol have grown continuously since 2014 and reached a record high of almost 4.8 billion Euro in 2017. In the first semester of 2018 there was also an increase over the same period of the previous year. South Tyrolean export companies are mainly active on the European markets, primarily in Germany and Austria. The IER - Institute for Economic Research of the Chamber of Commerce Bolzano has conducted a survey aimed at the agricultural cooperatives as well as the enterprises in the manufacturing industry and in wholesale, to address important aspects of the foreign trade. The results show that the acquisition of new customers abroad is usually performed by answering customer enquiries or by active contact with potential customers. Participation in trade fairs is also important to address new customers. This is especially true for agricultural cooperatives.
The main difficulties for companies, opening to foreign markets, are the absence of business partners abroad and a lack of skills in the company. In addition, many export companies complain about the high level of bureaucracy, not least because of the different legislation in the individual countries. A long-term strategy is necessary to ensure international competitiveness of South Tyrolean enterprises and the South Tyrolean economy in the future. Access to foreign markets must be facilitated by ensuring the free movement of goods within the EU and by establishing an appropriate and transnational infrastructure network. At a local level, it is necessary to invest in the competitiveness of the companies by investing in innovation, research and digitization, as well as by the tuition of qualified, multilingual workforce. The role of IDM South Tyrol in the support of the internationalization of small and medium-sized enterprises should also be supported.