Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) is one of the five autonomous regions with a special statute and it is Italy's most North-Eastern region. Friuli Venezia Giulia covers an area of 7,708 km2 (about 3,000 sq. miles) and has about 1.2m inhabitants. It borders with Austria to the north and Slovenia to the east. To the south it faces the Adriatic Sea and has an internal border with the Veneto region to its west. The Capital of the region is Trieste.

Every year, the FVG region celebrates the “Top 500" companies in terms of gross revenues, information derived from analysis performed by the North East Foundation. On January 29, 2019 at the Giuseppe Verdi Theater in Trieste, experts from PWC and other organizations highlighted economic and financial trends and forecasts, painting a positive picture despite three rounds of recession since 2008.

Based on statistics gathered from the TOP500 companies, GDP recorded a +1.3% increase and investments +1.9% increase in 2017, in line with the national average. 2018 forecasts estimate that the regional economy will be better than the Italian average, and while the economy grew by 0.8%, the average turnover of the TOP500 companies rose by 9.5% resulting in profits growth at generally +50%.

According to Invest in FVG, exports in FVG keep growing. As shown by a study from IRES FVG, over the first nine months of 2018, regional exports increased by 10.8% compared with the same period in 2017; it’s the highest export rate in the north-east of Italy and one of most significant results in the country. Regional exports are driven by the metal parts production (+11.3% compared with 2017), the manufacture of machinery and equipment (+3.3%), shipbuilding (+35.9%), and the furniture industry (+2.4%).

The World Trade Center Trieste is committed to increasing trade and investment for our region, and we invite our sister World Trade Centers to explore import, export and investment opportunities with us. This link will take you to the TOP500 list of companies; let us know if we can connect you or your WTC members!