The Industry Plan 4.0 encourages foreign investment in our country. For the first time since 2004, Italy is back in the top ten of the most attractive countries: the 2018 report on global flows of foreign direct investment, published by the American consulting firm AT Kearney, which surveyed more than 500 senior executives of major global corporations in different sectors. The report shows that Italy has implemented national policies to boost growth, competitiveness and productivity such as the National Plan “Industry 4.0” which – according to AT Kearney – has helped to make our country more attractive internationally.
The Fdi Confidence Index again sees the United States in first place (this is the sixth consecutive year) followed by Canada and Germany. The 2018 report, however, makes a special mention of Italy. Specifically, for the first time in more than a decade, our country is back among the top ten most attractive economies for foreign direct investment, gaining three places from the thirteenth to the tenth.
Within the EU, Italy ranks after Germany (third), Great Britain (fourth) and France (seventh), but ahead of the Netherlands, Sweden and Spain. This is a significant leap forward, as proof of the renewed confidence in the Italian economy on the part of foreign investors.
The numbers of the sector were driven by the incentives (hyper- and super-depreciation) of the Industria 4.0 plan which, as explained by the chairman of Federmeccanica, Alberto Dal Poz, “boosted investment in machinery, technology and innovation and enabled Italy to partly make up the gap with the other industrialised countries”.