The Invest in Italy Roadshow, organised by Italy's foreign trade agency ICE and the Italian embassy, has wrapped up in South Korea's capital, Seoul, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
“Italy is an interesting market, worth your while investing in," the country's ambassador Marco della Seta said at the roadshow.
“The country’s fundamentals are positive and have been growing for years. In this context, it is important to present investment opportunities in Italy to the Korean public which is not familiar with the Italian stock market.”
Korean professionals and investment trust managers attended the one-day roadshow, which aimed to showcase the business climate and investment opportunities in Italy.
Presentations were made at the event by representatives from ICE, Invitalia, Borsa Italiana-London Stock Exchange Group, the Port Authorities of Messina and La Spezia-Carrara and the Italian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (AIFI), the foreign ministry said.
The roadshow was supported by the Bank of Italy and Italy's foreign ministry and economic development ministry. It focused especially on the opportunities offered by Borsa Italiana's ‘Elite’ platform, whose representatives attended B2B meetings with members of the major investment trusts in Seoul.
The roadshow was part of a series of Italian events aimed at attracting Korean investment that have been organised regularly since 2015 by the Italian embassy and ICE, together with the 'Cassa Depositi e Prestiti', a company that provides financing services for public-sector investments in Italy, and Bank of Italy workshops on the reform of the Italian economic system.
There are 57 South Korean companies operating in Italy currently, with an overall annual turnover of 6.25 million euros and more than 3.000 employees, the foreign ministry said.
In the first nine months of 2017, South Korean investments in Italy soared to 10.48 million euros, 9.10 million of which were in the Italian manufacturing sector, according to figures published by the Import-Export Bank of Korea.
South Korean investments in Italy totalled 8.85 million euros in 2016, according to the Import-Export Bank of Korea.
