Piemonte is the largest region of continental Italy, with a territorial extension like Denmark and a population of over 4 million inhabitants. Thanks to its geographical position, Piemonte is a main gateway to the European market and one of the Italy's most industrialized regions. It can offer to the international markets a wide range of capabilities and a unique ensemble of manufacturing variety.
This is an area of excellence with approximately
400,000 enterprises (out of 5 million all over Italy) organized in extremely innovative, flexible and efficient clusters, in most sectors covering the complete production cycle. The best example is provided by the automotive industry, other clusters concern
ICT, mechanics, agriculture and food, textiles, clothing, jewellery, eco-industry, aerospace and writing.
Piemonte annually
exports goods worth 31 billion Euro, in particular inside the European Union, which absorbs 68% of its exports and about the same percentage of its imports. The region’s
GDP pro capite is approximately 24,000 Euros.
The growing interest of
foreign industrial investors clearly shows the central role of the whole region. More than 500 foreign businesses in the manufacturing, service and commerce sectors, have already made Piemonte the base for development in Italy and Europe. These include: Jac, AE Goetze, Alstom, Breed, Contitech, Dayco, Dea Brown and Sharpe, Eaton, Federal Mogul, Irci, Kimberly Clark, Lear Corporation and L’Oreal.
Piemonte invests 1.42 billions in
research and development, which is strongly supported by an extremely dynamic local network of more than 200 Research Centers of international standing, such as those run by Fiat (for automotive), Telecom Italia (for telecommunication),
RAI (for broadcasting) and Motorola
EMEA (for mobile phone systems).
The vocation for innovation and the receptivity of the whole territory make Piemonte a promising and competitive area in terms of professional training and in the cultural and intellectual environment. Two are the leading
university institutions in Piemonte: the
University of Torino, with more than 65,000 students, 1,200 lecturers and 700 researchers, 12 faculties and 55 departments - and the
Politecnico di Torino, top ranking for technical-scientific training and research in Italy and Europe, with a high level of integration within the business system. On the side specialized courses are carried out by post-graduate schools such as the
Mario Boella Institute specialised in the field of information and communication technology and many other education institutes.