Prime Minister Matteo Renzi made his first official visit to Chicago on March 30, 2016. The visit by the Italian head of state focused on Italian manufacturers in the Midwest at the ITA’s i3 Forum=Impact. Innovate. Integrate. at the University of Chicago’s Gleacher Center.
“The i3 Forum provided a unique opportunity for U.S. and Italian manufacturers to address the challenges and trends in the marketplace through sharing practical experiences,” said Roberto Luongo, Director General of the Italian Trade Agency. "Chicago is not only the epicenter of the U.S. advanced manufacturing ecosystem, it’s also home to a decades long collaboration between Italian and American companies, who are working together to meet the challenges of tomorrow, today."
The U.S. is Italy’s most important trading partner outside of the European Union with about seven percent of its total exports being sent to the U.S. In 2015, Illinois was the sixth largest importer of goods from Italy with almost $1.8 billion, an increase of almost seven percent over the previous year. Manufacturing is at the heart of this growth. In 2015, about a third of goods imported from Italy were machinery products with $516 million, followed by two sectors which had dynamic growth, chemical products with $459 million and food products with $130 million - respectively with 86% and 14 % increases over the previous year. Closing the top four sectors of Illinois’ imports was metal products at $136 million. These four sectors combined, accounted for approximately 70% of Italy’s total exports to Illinois in 2015. Along with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, there are over 89 Italian companies with operations in Illinois employing almost 3,700 Illinoisans as of 2016 and of these, almost a third call Chicago home.
Honored guests and speakers included Armando Varricchio, Italian Ambassador to the U.S., Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the Chairman of CNH Industrial, and Marc Allen, Sr. Vice President The Boeing Company and President, Boeing International.
Additionally, fifteen of Italy’s top manufacturing innovators in the aerospace, automotive, energy and robotics sectors joined with more than 100 invited guests from American and Italian manufacturing companies to discuss the current state of the industry and the trends expected to take place over the next several years.
The i3 Forum featured live displays of Italian innovation including the COMAU Racer3 Robot, the iCub humanoid robot developed at the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Ducati Motorcycles featuring the latest Brembo braking technology, 3D printing devices from Fonderie Digitali, and the ISSpresso, the espresso maker designed for the International Space Station (ISS) by Lavazza and Argotec.
For more information about the Forum, its supporting partners and to to watch videos and download presentations from the i3 Forum, visit www.attendi3.com.
