Rome companies look to foreign markets, but ask for institutional support

Small and medium-sized enterprises in the province of Rome are increasingly looking to foreign markets, but they are also asking institutions (from the Region to the Chamber of Commerce) for support in the form of training courses, incentives to participate in trade fairs abroad, and meetings with foreign operators interested in selling products made in Italy. This is the result of a survey carried out by SWG for the CNA of Rome (an association of artisans and small and medium-sized enterprises) on 334 companies in the area, 62 of which are already operating in international markets.

According to the research, for the 10% of companies that are already abroad, revenues made outside Italy are worth over 80%. The main reference markets are the European ones, to which 57% of companies turn, immediately followed by the United States (25%) and Asia (14%). 84% of Roman companies have been present abroad for at least three years, and 57% of these manage all their business from their Italian headquarters, without relying on international business networks or e-commerce platforms. Only 8% have an office abroad.

Those companies that have already embarked on internationalisation believe that it mainly enables them to find new markets for their products (an advantage indicated by 67% of companies), increase revenues (54%) and find new business partners (46%). Those that still focus primarily on the local context believe that internationalising means increasing revenues (47%), finding new markets (45%), and finding cheaper suppliers (29%).

Net of past experiences, almost 4 out of 10 of the interviewed companies that are not internationalised show interest in rethinking their reality from a perspective that goes beyond national borders (they consider it a priority or at least an important aspect). Although there remains almost a third of companies that consider it a matter of no interest. For companies that are not yet internationalised, opening up abroad would serve in the majority of cases (47%), as mentioned, to increase revenues, while those that are already abroad focus above all (67%) on the search for new markets. 29% focus on searching for new suppliers (a priority for only 13% of those who already have a foreign business, however).

On the question of how to grow internationally, the differences of opinion between those who have experience behind them and those who do not are clear. The former would rely above all (33%) on the support of public organisations specialised in internationalisation (or on the advice of managers with this type of experience), the latter would turn first and foremost to their own trade organisations (36%). 51% of already internationalised companies have a good or very good opinion of the Chamber of Commerce's support for internationalisation, followed by Regione Lazio (44%) and Ministerial Agencies (34%). For companies not yet internationalised, the most positive opinion (again 51%) is for the Chamber of Commerce, followed by Ministerial Agencies (37%) and Lazio Region (33%).