Made in Italy … but produced in the Emirates
Business centre helps six companies bring nation’s hallmark food, fashion and hospitality skills to the market
From organic food companies that sell Sicilian grains to the first Italian-made burqini, businesses from Italy are setting up in the UAE and they are prospering.
Part of the reason for their success is the Abu Dhabi Italian Business Centre, which was established to give companies a chance to expand beyond the difficult business environment at home.
Over the past decade, with a poor economy at home, Italian companies have looked to more prosperous markets to set up shop.
Mirella Morelli, founder of Elasmoda – which has been making beachwear since 1993 – is one businesswoman who has entered the UAE market, and with a product that is sure to turn heads.
She is developing an “innovative” burqini specifically for the UAE, to pay respect to local customs governing women’s fashion and to add “more of the Made in Italy beauty”.
The swimwear will be embellished with Swarovski crystals.
“The idea of having our beachwear worn in the UAE was driven by our desire to grow as a business, after we searched long for a country that would offer this opportunity,” Ms Morelli said.
“So, when we came across the Italian Business Centre in Abu Dhabi, it was the perfect union for us.
“Italy is a beautiful country, but there are many things in the political world that prevent business growth, so by putting our products in another country we can add more value to our company.”
Francesco Favaro, the co-founder and director of the centre, said that many businesses in Italy were struggling but setting up in the UAE was also difficult because some of the early Italian investors here did not earn trust of customers and partners.
“A lot of Italian companies came here and said, ‘we can do this and that’, but then they went back to Italy and they disappeared after they had taken the money,” Mr Favaro said.
“We want to build the market trust in Italian companies, that we are here, the office is here, they can come and see and touch the place.”
Since the centre opened in 2015, it has provided six companies with structures, licences, sponsorships and also connections with local clients.
The lure of Italian companies, said Mr Favaro, was “the capacity of Italians to pay attention to details like nobody else”.
“If I see a floor I can tell you if it has been done by an Italian, because there are not two tiles that are different from each other,” he said.
Another company to benefit from the UAE market and the centre is New Commerce Generation, which makes bread, pizza and biscotti from traditional Sicilian grains.
The grains are said to help digestion because they contain about 50 per cent less glutathione, compared with modern grains.
“Our advantage in being in the UAE market is to expand – not only our business in a fully evolving market, but also to make you appreciate more and more the Made in Italy brand,” said Marco Morelli, general manager of New Commerce Generation.
Similarly, Sevitex, a producer of linen for hotels, restaurants, cruise ship companies and sports clubs across Italy since 1969, said that by becoming a supplier in the UAE it would have the chance to increase the visibility of its brand in Italy and in other countries.
It would also “verify if our competitiveness and quality can also be appreciated in other countries”, said Gianluca Sevi, chief executive of Sevitex.
“The first country we have chosen is the UAE, where hospitality is one of the most important fields that is in constant growth,” Mr Sevi said.
After frequent visits to study the market in Abu Dhabi and Dubai over the past two years, Sevitex decided to join the centre because “for a company that is trying to open a new market in a new country, the knowledge and experience of ADIBC in the UAE has been of help to us”, he said.