Italy - background market data

Currency — Euro (€): UK£1=€1.3298, US$1=€0.6701. The pound was steady against the euro for most of 2007, falling sharply towards the end of the year. The dollar weakened against the euro throughout 2007, rising slightly in December.

Government — Earlier this year, President Giorgio Napolitano called for the creation of an interim government following the fall of Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s centre-left government, which lost a vote of confidence in the Senate on January 24, 2008. Former Prime Minister and the main centre-right opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi is calling for an early election as opinion polls are in his favour, but without reform in electoral law that Napolitano would like to put through under an interim government, any future government is likely to be unstable.

Economy — And EU member state, Italy has a diversified industrial economy with roughly the same total GDP and per capita output as France and the UK. The country is divided into an industrial north, dominated by private companies, and a less-developed, welfare-dependent south, with 20 per cent unemployment. The national rate unemployment rate was 6.7 per cent for 2007. GDP growth is expected to slow from two per cent in 2006-07 to 1.3 per cent in 2008, reflecting global financial uncertainty and the appreciation of the euro on Italian exports. Growth is forecast to pick up to the national average of 1.6 per cent in 2009, but this is still below the EU average of two per cent. Inflation is set to climb from two per cent in 2007 to 2.4 per cent in 2008.

Boat Park — 880,000. Of that figure around eight per cent is registered pleasureboats, 42 per cent unregistered and 50 per cent dinghies, canoes, kayak and windsurfers. Power far outweighs sail in Italy.

Restrictions — VAT is high at 20 per cent. Drivers’ licences for both motorboats and sailboats are available, but mandatory for craft with engines above 30kW. Registration is compulsory for motorboats and sailing yachts over 10m (33ft), although registration taxes have been scrapped.

Industry Body — UCINA, Piazzale J F Kennedy 1, I-16129 Genova, Italy. Tel: +39 010 576 9811. Fax: +39 010 553 1104. Contact: Secretary-general, Lorenzo Pollicardo. E-Mail: ucina@ucina.net. Website: www.ucina.net. ICOMIA member organisation with over 300 member companies.

Key Boat Shows (2)

— Genoa International Boat Show, the Mediterranean boat show of the year. Held annually in second week of October. Attracts 1,650 exhibitors and 325,000-plus visitors. Next edition is October 4-12, 2008. Website: www.salonenautico-online.it.

— Nautic Sud International Boat Show, Naples. Normally held in March/April and pulls in around 500 exhibitors and 135,000 visitors. Next edition is March 8-16, 2008. Website: www.nauticsud.info.

Market Outlook — Italy’s marine leisure industry, the second largest in the world in terms of production and the fourth largest probably as regards consumption, continues to drive forward at home and abroad. But don’t think for a moment that business is easy. Competition is intense. Guessing the way ahead just now is no easy task, however. The uncertainty in the world’s financial markets means just about everyone would admit to a little nervousness. And that is true just about everywhere.

Next IBI Italian Business Report in the February/March 2009 issue.