SIMEST approved 3,470 trade fair financing transactions for Italian companies between 2023 and 2025

SIMEST, the Italian state-backed export finance company, approved 3,470 trade fair related transactions between 2023 and 2025, mobilising 503 million euros. Of that total, 1,554 operations covered participation in events held inside Italy rather than abroad, and the leading destination markets were Germany, France, the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Spain and the Netherlands. The sectors drawing on the facility are the classic Italian export base: mechanical engineering, trade, agri-food, metallurgy, textiles, non-financial services, chemicals and petrochemicals, electrical equipment and electronics or IT. SIMEST provides finance rather than grant aid, so its activity is reported as a count of approved transactions and a volume of mobilised resources. Events held inside Italy account for a large share of the approved operations, which places the instrument on both sides of the market: it backs Italian companies exhibiting abroad and it also covers the cost of taking a stand on the domestic market. The figures are SIMEST's own, as reported for 2025.