Edoardo Bonatti
13 marzo 2019
Italian culture is not just a world-renowned brand or an invaluable immaterial heritage, but also a core component of the country’s economy. Symbola Foundation and Unioncamere underlined this oft-forgotten fact during the presentation of the report on the economic importance of the Italian cultural industry that took place on the 7 March.
The so-called “Cultural and Creative Production System”, an expression which includes enterprises, public administrations, and non-profit organizations actively working in Italy, generated a 92 billion euros revenue in 2017. When taking into account the economic value created by the satellite activities tied to the cultural sector the revenue reaches a staggering amount: 255.5 billion, equivalent to 16.6% of the national GDP. Such a result means that the sector grew by 2% over the previous year. Employment benefits greatly from this state of affairs: in the expanded culture sector, one and a half million people work, accounting for 6.1% of the total employment in Italy.
According to the report, Lombardy is the leading Italian region as far culture enterprises are concerned counting on 350 thousand employees and producing a value-added total of 24 billion euros. The region is the national leader in terms of value added in various key sectors: architecture and design (2.6 billion); communication (2); publishing (3.9); software (3,4); art (1.8). Lombardy is also the leading region in Italy for culture-related tourism income with 3.9 billion euros.
During the presentation, Ermete Realacci, president of the Symbola Foundation defined culture and creativity as the cornerstone of all Italian productive sectors. Realacci quoted a University of Pennsylvania-US News magazine joint survey where Italy placed first for its worldwide cultural influence. He also praised the “Italian characteristic intertwine between culture and manufacturing, social cohesion and innovation, competitiveness and sustainability, which represents a legacy of the past but also a key to the future”
Thanks to the new Italian visa for investors and patrons, non-EU entrepreneurs can easily become a part of the Italian culture industry, among many others. For its customers, Investorvisa.it selected the best and most innovative Italian industrial companies and the most interesting donation opportunities for international patrons.
Source: La Repubblica
