The Italian Trade Agency (also ITA, in Italian: ) is a

government agency A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, s ...

of the

Italian Republic Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

whose purpose is to promote foreign trade and Italy's exports. It was established in 1926 with the ''Decreto reale'' n. 800 with the name of INE (''Istituto nazionale per le esportazioni'', "National Institute for Exports") and had the main task of "promoting the development of

exports An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

of products coming from the Italian soil and industry". In 1935, the institute also developed specific skills in the field of

imports An importer is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. Import is part of the International Trade which involves buying and receivin ...

by changing its name to ''Istituto nazionale per gli scambi con l'estero'' ("National Institute for Foreign Trade"). Subsequently, in 1945 it took the name ''ICE – Istituto nazionale per il commercio estero''. In July 2011, the ICE was abolished and shortly after in December 2011 it was reconstituted in the form of

with the name "ICE – Agency for the promotion abroad and internationalization of Italian companies" (''ICE – Agenzia per la promozione all'estero e l'internazionalizzazione delle imprese italiane''). After about 12 months of transitional management, from 1 January 2013 the new ICE Agency has been operational to support Italian exports and

investments Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

around the world and to encourage foreign investments in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Outside Italy, it's best known as the Italian Trade Agency (ITA).

The current structure of ITA

Starting from 1 January 2015, ITA owns about 64 offices worldwide, in close collaboration with the diplomatic-consular network and with the Italian chambers of commerce located abroad. Current president and general manager are Matteo Zoppas and Roberto Luongo respectively.

''CorCE''

ITA is also known for its course focused on foreign trade and called ''CorCE'' (''Corso di specializzazione in Commercio Estero'', "Specialization Course in Foreign Trade"). CorCE first started in October 1962, with the first forty scholarships awarded by public tender and today it is a master's program for the internationalization of companies.{{Cite web, url=http://www.exportraining.ice.it/it/attivita-e-servizi/lista-corsi/380-master-per-l-internazionalizzazione-delle-imprese-53%C2%B0-corce-fausto-de-franceschi.html, title=Master per l'internazionalizzazione delle imprese 53° CORCE Fausto De Franceschi, first=Irene, last=Celauro, website=www.exportraining.ice.it

The current structure of ITA

''CorCE''

References

See also