Italy's foreign trade agency (Ice) and state-controlled firm Sace-Simest have a total 716 million euros available to help companies deal with the fall-out from the dramatic coronavirus outbreak, Italy's foreign minister Luigi Di Maio said on Tuesday.
The money will be used to give firms access to credit and for a major communications campaign to "re-launch Italy's image", Di Maio said at the launch in Rome of a special plan to promote Italian brands abroad.
The plan "is being spearheaded by Ice and is funded to the tune of 316 million euros, on top of the 400 million euros on offer by Sace-Simest," said Di Maio.
Sace-Simest belongs to state lender Cassa depositi e prestiti and is 76% controlled by Italy's export credit agency Sace.
"The special plan for our Made in Italy brand is open to suggestions on how to improve and to requests...it needs to take account of all the problems that Italian companies are having due to the coronavirus," Di Maio said.
Italy has reported the highest number of coronavirus deaths - 79 - outside China and 2,263 cases of the disease have been confirmed, Italy's coronavirus emergency chief, Angelo Borrelli said on Tuesday.
The coronavirus outbreak has led to a ban on commercial flights to and from China, the postponement of 28 international and 23 national trade fairs, the national Aefi association said on Tuesday. A total 22 trade fairs have been cancelled - mainly in Italy's coronavirus hotspots of Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia-Romagna, Aefi said.
The number of coronavirus patients who have died in Italy has risen more than six-fold in less than a week.
