Outward FDI from Italy and its policy context

Italian companies started to invest abroad in the 1960s in search of new markets. However,
Italy’s outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) performance is quite modest compared with
that of other European Union (EU) countries, mainly due to structural characteristics like the
low number of large firms, the specialization in traditional low- and medium-technology
manufacturing industries and the almost negligible activity in advanced services. The global
economic and financial crisis seriously affected the Italian economy. However, the positive
trend of Italian OFDI was not interrupted, and in 2009 OFDI flows remained stable
compared to 2008. Habitually silent on this policy area in earlier decades, the Italian
Government has recently shown a more favorable stance toward OFDI, introducing specific
policy measures addressed to small and medium-sized enterprises, which have started to
expand strongly abroad – these now constitute almost 90% of Italian multinational
enterprises (MNEs).