Italy's foreign minister Angelino Alfano on Friday hailed a more than 7 percent rise in the value of exports last year which he said resulted from "growing competitiveness" of Italian companies and "the great quality of Italian products and technologies".
"The figures on 2017 Italian exports, which are up 7.4 percent from 2016, amounting to more than 448 billion euros, confirm the great quality of Italian products and technology and our companies’ growing competitiveness around the world," Alfano stated.
"These results issue from the skills and talent of our entrepreneurs, which have been consolidated thanks to the coordinated and coherent support of various government agencies," he said.
Italy's foreign ministry is strongly engaged in economic diplomacy around the world to help Italian enterprises succeed on international markets and in international tenders, and to overcome non-tariff barriers for Italian products, Alfano said.
The 7.4 percent increase in value terms in Italian exports in 2017 is the biggest since the 11.4 percent increase registered in 2011, according to national statistics agency Istat.
