Italian and American Businesses Discuss Internationalization at Gatto Astucci HQ in NYC
New York has been at the center of a debate on the internationalization of businesses in the world. In fact, the Italian news agency Ti Lancio, organized at the U.S. headquarters of Gatto Astucci, Italy’s leading luxury eyeglass case and display company for the luxury beauty world, near Times Square: a panel discussion on internationalization, with a focus on the U.S. Ti Lancio will do interviews from New York, continuously to give a voice in the U.S., to Italian companies that aspire to grow in the U.S., and to American companies, who want to conquer the Italian market.
Italian companies Gatto Astucci, Vimi Fasteners, Turin Chamber of Commerce, Dba Group, LabLaw, and Eurolls participated in the discussion.
Contamination can only be good for the two economies.
U.S. headquarters of Gatto Astucci
Cristian Paravano, general manager of Gatto Astucci said:
‘The Gatto Group has always presided over the international reference market with a direct presence in the European, Asian, and North American B2B markets. In addition to the usual challenges related to language, culture, and local regulations in the coming years, it will be necessary to adapt quickly to the mutations caused by a geopolitical situation that will increasingly shift from bipolarism to multipolarism that will be reflected both on the supply chain (duties, anti-dumping, currencies, regulations) and on the logic of consumption in the various areas of influence (emergence of new “local” brands). In this very “fluid” scenario, our strategy continues to reflect our “sustainable” mission by trying to be able to produce with the same quality and “values” in more and more areas of the world thus being able to be nimble to better serve our customers in the evolutions of the market. In addition, the group is continuously expanding in foreign markets, and in particular in the U.S., where we foresee a strong development over the next year thanks to a greater commercial push especially in the eyewear and cosmetics sector. Gatto USA with its new showroom in NYC will certainly be at the center of our commercial strategies to develop the most important market for the sectors we cover.’
Fabio Storchi, president of Vimi Fasteners, a historic company in Novellara (Re), which produces some of the best fasteners in the world, stated:
‘Internationalization proves to be fundamental, for Italian companies in the world, when from a geographical point of view, it is necessary to open a subsidiary, where the product is consumed. In this way, one gets closer to the customer, creating a profitable motion for the relationship, and also for service. The country hosting the new settlement must be “friendly,” or at any rate, willingly accept the inclusion of the counterpart. Doing so creates a virtuous circle that, in economies of scale, brings good to the countries involved, and to all parties involved. In my long business career, I have always aimed for internationalization when the time was right. Without waiting a moment longer. Timing is also crucial: that is, the right time.’
President of the Turin Chamber of Commerce Industry, Crafts and Agriculture, Dario Gallina, announced the new internationalization action for Piedmontese SMEs.
‘Together with the Piedmont Region and Ceip (Foreign Center for Internationalization), we are supporting with more than one million euros the creation of tools for investment attraction. Universities, such as the Polytechnic, and the City of Turin are also collaborating. This is a strong and joint action of institutions to help companies export and also to create the conditions for strong investment attraction. We have composed a team equipped through a coordination system to take our companies abroad and to create the conditions for investment in the territory,’ added the president of the Turin Chamber of Commerce.
Italy has about 600 billion in exports. Piedmont, with 63.7 billion euros in 2023, is the fourth of the Italian regions (preceded by Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, and Veneto) in terms of the value of goods exported to the world. Therefore, it is a great fortune for a multitude of even very small businesses that regions, including Piemonte, are working, through also public resources and the action of public bodies such as the Chamber of Commerce, to support SMEs.
Francesco Rotondi, a well-known Italian labor lawyer, commented:
‘For us, the observation of internationalization content imposes the value of Internationality: economic-legal and not only of need and satisfaction, of product demand and supply. Internationality is the suitability and compliance to attend foreign markets, respecting the work, having capabilities, skills, protections, and the measurement of risk and merits (ranking, ratings, trademarks, protections, partnerships) to tread the international scenes. We know the laws, the regulations with which to protect ourselves. It’s one thing to know how to read markets such as supply and demand, products, and marketing mix; it’s another thing to know how to stay safe in them. It is also true that the world runs fast and “those who are not ready now, will never be ready.” Here, all the more reason to become indispensable is the issue of protecting internationality as a legal-economic endowment.’
Renato Railz, head of the Italian multinational Eurolls, which has quite a lot of its market in the U.S., remarked:
‘We have to be close to our customers, to provide also and not only for the maintenance of the products. That is why it is important for us, for example, to have a production site close to where the customer is, who feels more protected in this way.’
