Confindustria Moda to Join Italy’s ‘Export Pact’

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MILAN – Over the past months, the Italian fashion system has been vocal about the need for Italy’s government to take concrete actions aimed at supporting the sector impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now a plan is shaping up.

Confindustria Moda, the association that groups more than 65,000 companies operating in the fashion sector, has agreed to join the Export Pact, with the goal to strengthen the bond between the government and the fashion system in a bid to help the sector overcome the crisis.

The pact has been already signed by Confindustria, which regroups companies operating also in other industries, on June 8.

The decision was taken during a meeting summoned by Italy’s undersecretary for foreign affairs, Manlio Di Stefano, with Claudio Marenzi and Cirillo Marcolin, president and vicepresident of Confindustria Moda, respectively, along with Marino Vago, president of Sistema Moda Italia and the association’s general manager Gianfranco Di Natale.

“The dialogue with the institutions regarding the Export Pact will entail a collaboration and support of exports, which is crucial to our companies and aimed at making up for the lost sales caused by the lockdown of the past months,” noted Marenzi, highlighting that Italy’s fashion sector generated revenues of 95 billion euros in 2019. “In the next two years we will need extraordinary measures to keep the pipeline of Made in Italy fashion intact, which is a unique excellence made of companies big and small essential to our society and employment.”

As part of the Export Pact, Italy’s government is allocating 1.4 billion euros.

Along with the involved parties, it commits to support the internationalization of the country’s economy through communication and integrated promotional initiatives aimed at presenting Italy’s different excellences as a system; a facilitated access to internationalization and digitalization programs for small and medium-sized enterprises; the implementation of e-commerce and business-to-business digital platforms; a refresh of the country’s trade shows, as well as an easier access for companies to financial resources and credit.

“Fashion represents a key pillar not only for the country’s exports and Made in Italy, it is also fundamental to foster the relevance of the ‘Italian brand’,” commented Di Stefano.

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