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Year VII – n°1
February 2007

flash news

The DevaDiamante collection opens in Russia

On the occasion of the next edition of the Cpm in Moscow, Toscana Promozione and Polimoda will present in the Russian capital the collection “DevaDiamante” created by the 15 firms that, in 2006, have joined the pilot project “Total Look” prepared by the Agency, the Florentine institute, Unioncamere, CNA, Confartigianato and Confindustria. We remind that the project objective was to create a fashion line for women expressly for the Russian market.

latest news

The new number of the Newsmap by Toscana Promozione is out

Eight pages of insights and news that you can also read on the Agency site

The mission in India with Prodi, the Economy Promotion Activities Program for 2007, Tuscany at the Bit. These are some of the topics that you will find in the new number of Newsmap, the information magazine of Toscana Promozione, sent as an attachment to the financial magazine Toscana Affari , which you can read on the Agency site. Eight color pages of in-depth reading on the most important issues on the promotion and internationalization of our Region economy.

around the word

Tuscany in India with Prodi

20 Tuscan operators among the participants at the India-Italy Business Forum

Tuscany will be among the protagonists of the India-Italy Business Forum, organized by the Ministry for International Commerce, Confindustria, ICE and ABI on the occasion of the State visit in the Republic of India of the Cabinet Prime Minister, Mr. Romano Prodi, who will officially open the Italian Year in India . Scheduled from the 11 th to the 14 th February, the initiative will develop along two distinct itineraries: Kolkata and Mumbai (former Bombay ), open to businesses from every sector; Bangalore - Mumbai, specific for businesses of the ICT sector. Both itineraries will be attended by the Prime Minister and one or more Ministers of the Italian Government.

The India - Italy Business Forum schedules a series of conventions, seminars and bilateral meetings between Italian and Indian firms, realized in collaboration with the FICCI (Indian Federation of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry) and other business organizations. An excellent chance for exchange and approach to the Indian economic reality, which Tuscany will attend with about 20 operators – including institutional bodies, businesses and category associations – of the following sectors: goldsmiths and jewelers; stone industry, textile and mechanic-textile, tan industry, high-tech, ports and logistics, and restoration.

The February Forum is the first of a series of initiatives that have the purpose to divulge and increase the presence of Made in Italy in the Indian republic, in order to be able, in the next future, to fully exploit the potential of bilateral relations between the two countries that, so far, notwithstanding a constantly increasing cross-exchange, is still unexpressed for a good deal.

Among the sectors that offer the greater opportunities for the Italian export to India , we find: Metals and metal products; electrical machines and equipment; mechanical machines and equipment; chemical products and artificial synthetic fibers.

From Finland to Russia : the Tuscan agricultural and food industry enters the GDO Stockmann

The buyers of the chain shall choose among the products of 135 businesses

On June, the new promotional campaign of Tuscan agricultural and food products with the Organized Big Distribution will start and, after El Corte Ingles, Freshmart and Palacio de Hierro, the Finnish chain Stockmann will host on its shelves the delicacies of our Region. As it has already happened in similar occasions, it will be the GDO buyers to select the Tuscan businesses that will send their products to the 13 department stores of the chain, located in Finland (7), Russia, (4), Estonia (1) and Leetonia (1). To this end, Toscana Promozione has organized on the 6 and 7 February, a two-days workshop – one day in Florence and one day in Grosseto – during which the chain representatives have met 135 Tuscan businesses, 40 from Grosseto and 95 from Florence .

Stockmann is one of the major Organized Big Distributions of Northern Europe. Born in Finland in 1862, it operates in the retail sector and, as at today, has about 41,000 shareholders. Among its divisions, we find: Department Stores, Hobby Hall – specialized in e-commerce and sales by mail - and the fashion store chain “Seppälä”. Stockmann is present in Finland , Russia , Estonia , Leetonia and Lithuania .

Organic Tuscany is protagonist in Nuremberg

Biofach 2007 opens on February 15

2007 is the year of Italy at the Biofach in Nuremberg , the World Expo of organic products that, from the 15 th to the 18 th February, hosts 2100 exhibitors from 73 nations and a public of over 37,000 visitors. In fact, out country is a long-time leader in this sector with about 37,000 certified businesses in 2005 and 1 million of hectares cultivated with the organic method. An important reality that, this year, will be recounted through a rich agenda of initiatives – organized by Ice in collaboration with the Expo and the attending Italian regions – that will take place in the central area of pavilion 4. and, obviously, Tuscany could not be missing among the protagonists of the Italian year at the Biofach in Nuremberg, as we have always been at the forefront in the promotion of organic products and methods as a model of environmentally compatible development that protects our natural resources, respects the environment, takes care of the welfare of animals and of the health of consumers. A commitment recently confirmed by the declaration of intents between the Network of the OGM-free European Regions and the “International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture” presented during the second day of the “Regional Conference on Agriculture” by the agriculture regional councilor Susanna Cenni, the Chairman of the Vandana Shiva Commission and Arsia Director, Maria Grazia Mammuccini.

Tuscany will be present at the Nuremberg Expo in pavilion 4, with a 90-m2 stand that will host a regional collective exhibition of 14 operators including private businesses, associations and the province of Massa Carrara . They have the task to represent an agricultural reality consisting of over 2,900 producers and more than 101,000 hectares farmed with the organic method. A job that will be carried out through a series of conventions, presentations and tasting that will enrich the agenda prepared by Ice.

in italy

Innovation and competitiveness: this is Tuscany at BIT 2007

The Milan expo opens at the Fieramilano exhibition center

Four days to recount Tuscany to the world. From February 22 to February 25, our region will be among the protagonists of the 27 th edition of the Borsa Internazionale del Turismo that, this year, opens for the first time at the new exhibition center in Rho (MI), designed by architect Massimiliano Fuksas: 9 pavilions on an overall area of over 60,net square meters, with spaces that increase the traditional ability of Bit to create targeted business opportunities.

The Tuscan stand, which will take an area of about 700 m 2 , will be hosted in pavilion 5 of the new structure and it will be divided into three main areas: an institutional one , which will host the Apt's, Toscana Promozione and the info point; one for the consortiums ; one for the events , divided in two areas: a Lounge area with a strong visual impact, which will host initiatives of different nature (tasting, presentations, etc.) and a conference room with 32 seats. This area will contain also an audiovisual totem and the press office.

Two passwords that will guide Tuscany 's participation to the Lombardy fair: innovation and competitiveness. At this important tourist fair, in fact, our region will heavily bet on a modern image and a multimedia scenario, but the real strength will be the offer, with tourism packages that promote the entire territory, trying to transmit the very essence of this land that, for 2007, decided to bet on its role of ideal destination for the “slow tourism”, aware and conscious. That's why the Tuscan stand at the Bit will be enlivened by a rich calendar of events, expressly thought to illustrate to operators and public the most peculiar aspects of a tourism offer extremely wide and articulated: the theatre season 2006-2007; Tuscany in the movies; theme parks and more.

We expect the participation of Carlo Verdone, Tommaso Mottola and Felice Laudadio who will talk about their experience as directors of the three big film festivals in Tuscany : Terre di Siena, Capalbio Short Film Festival and Europa Cinema.

The Tuscan presence at the Bit will open with a speech of the Regional Councilor for Tourism, Anna Rita Bramerini, who will present the news on tourism offer and the new Delta Airlines direct flight that, starting from the 1 st of June of this year, will link the Pisa airport and the JFK airport in New York four times a week.

in tuscany

Economy Promotion: the objective is concreteness

For 2007, about 180 initiatives and an investment of over 11milion euros are scheduled

Approved on January 22, the new program “Economy promotion activities for agriculture, craftsmanship, small and medium industry and tourism” of Regione Toscana requires, for 2007, the realization of about 180 promotional initiatives with an overall investment of 11,525,000 euros. An intense program whose purpose is the progressive recovery of market quotas for Tuscan export and tourist flows, the increase of the number of exporting Tuscan businesses and the growth of foreign investment in Tuscany and of Tuscan investments abroad. Objectives that will be pursued by implementing a strategy stemming from the indications defined by the Regional Development Program 2006-2010 (PRS) and by the project MonitorAzione and that will be based on a segmentation of services and promotional policies resting on two variables: the degree of internationalization and the sector appurtenance of the businesses. But let's see in detail the three objectives of the economy promotion for 2007:

• Objective 1: Promotion of Tuscany's economy on the international markets – Also for 2007, the promotional activity of Toscana Promozione will aim to realize a reduced number of initiatives than in the past, in order to avoid an excessive fragmentation of the resources and guarantee a higher quality of all the actions that, according to the indications contained in the PRS, shall be oriented to make the presence abroad of Tuscan businesses structural, aiming to an actual rooting on the markets and paying special attention to the necessities of small and medium businesses; designed to increase the export quotas of high quality and hi-tech products, quality agricultural and food products and artistic craftsmanship products, but also to valorize the role of the local public services sector in Tuscany's internationalization and cooperation processes.
• Objective 2: support to the internationalization processes of Tuscan businesses of goods and services – To reach this second objective, we will organize initiatives expressly designed to favor market penetration and strategic investments abroad by Tuscan businesses, including the big Public Utilities . This activity will move on four main lines of action: identification of the current demand and of the future one relative to sectors more inclined to internationalization; realization of informative actions dedicated to export, or “potential export” businesses, on the internationalization services provided to the businesses and the network of institutional subjects provide to the Tuscan economic system; development and strengthening of the activities of the offices operating in New York, Shanghai, Moscow and Frankfurt.
• Objective 3: promotion of foreign investments in Tuscany (territorial marketing) - The Territorial Marketing activities scheduled for 2007 will move mainly in two directions: a more organizational one, linked to the network Invest in Tuscany , and a more operative one. In the first case, we will create a system of network relations on four levels - local, regional, national and international – that shall have in Toscana Promozione its “junction” able to connect the requirements of foreign investors with the Tuscan offer, but also local needs with investors. All this to favor the overcoming of the current situation – characterized by a strong fragmentation of initiatives and structures – and create unique local instruments.

With regard to the second direction (operative), instead, we will implement specific Territorial Marketing actions for the purpose of identifying the Tuscan offer and realize interventions of promotion and assistance connected to eight target sectors: pharmaceutical, biotech, chemical, mechanical instrumental, nautical, automotive, Ict and logistics.

Seatec 2007 is ready to start

On February 1, the fifth edition opens. Visitors are increasing

More than 10,000 visitors are expected at the fifth edition of Seatec, the international expo of technologies and sub-supplies for the naval and shipbuilding sectors that will be held in Carrara from the 1 st to the 3 rd February, but not only this. In line with the trend constantly recorded from its first edition (2003), the entries to the fair that, from the very beginning, is directed to the world of the suppliers of goods, technologies and services for the construction of sports crafts ands ships of every size, from sailing boats to big yachts, are continuously growing: the brands participating at the 2007 edition are 615, 20% more compared to last year's edition.

In addition to a larger expo area – 24,000 m 2 , 2000 more than last year -, there will be more collateral events - with initiatives and specialized conventions and workshops of technical in-depth study. Moreover, like in the past, there will be theme exhibition areas with the technology still protagonist, like the Composites Island: a demo area for the realization and discussion of products and projects with composite materials realized in collaboration with Assocompositi and reserved to the most important international businesses that operate in the sector of composite materials and the equipment for their machining.

Also in this fifth edition, Naval design of both hulls and fittings will be in the foreground, with in-depth days in the exhibition area Abitare il Mare, thought for businesses that represent excellence in design and that are acquiring an ever growing importance in the realization of big yachts. Naval architects, designers, engineers and project managers are present in the area Project Island .

Finally, we have the big competitions born to award and valorize boat projects and fittings design: the fourth edition of MYDA, (Millennium Yacht Design Award) awards the most innovative boat projects of well-known architects and debutant designers, while Abitare il Mare 2007 – Furniture Design Award (second edition), reserved to businesses that represent the excellence of design in serial production, will be awarded to the best fitting of the master cabin of a motor yacht and of the lounge bar of a cruise ship.

There will also be a specific area for sailing boats, with manufacturers of dedicated materials and technologies, conventions and regattas, while the specialized press will occupy Media Island .

Among the big news we cite the Yacht Engineering Forum, the first dedicated to naval engineering and design, an initiative with a high technical content and speakers coming from the design and engineering world.

trade-fairs

director's
agenda
Roberto Pucci

• 1 February –Seatec opening – Carrara
• 5 February – Comitato coordinamento Sprint – Toscana Promozione Headquarters
• 10 -17 February – India-Italy Business Forum – India
• 22-23 February – Bit – Rho (MI)