Destination attractiveness: choose with care and relevance

Italian exports, as we also recounted in one of our newsletters, in the first four months of 2021 recorded a 19.8% trend increase over the same period in 2020 and 4.2% over the 2019 period (Ice Report data).

If you have a product that you believe in and if you are ready to ride the positive wave that has been created then you should be careful not to make one of the biggest mistakes: choosing the wrong destination.

Global Actrattivenes Index (GAI)

You probably already know that there is a Global Attractiveness Index that ranks 144 countries around the world and Italy ranks 18th. Read on and you will discover the global ranking but first, without too many technicalities, we want to remind you that the GAI is constructed from a set of quantitative indicators and taking into account the socio-economic and demographic dimensions of the country. It is a dynamic index that is calculated over 5 years (2020-2015), includes more than 800,000 data points and is composed of three complementary dimensions: Positioning Index, Dynamics Index and Sustainability Index.

From the newly released data here is the most recent ranking of the 10 countries in the world with the highest JHA:

1. Germany

2. Use

3. Singapore

4. Japan

5. Honk Kong

6. China

7. Canada

8. Korea

9. Netherlands

10. France

In addition to considering indices such as GAI, your company should analyze five key elements in choosing the target country, namely:

Level of imports

Il primo elemento da valutare: un Paese con un livello di importazioni superiore a quello delle esportazioni è un Paese più propenso a importare un dato prodotto, e dunque potenzialmente più interessante per la tua attività. Soprattutto, in virtù di ciò potrebbe importare a prezzi superiori a quelli delle esportazioni: grandi quantità di importazioni a prezzi alti è la combinazione ottimale per un’impresa che vuole esportare.

Growth of the country

Is the country growing economically and demographically, or is it stalling? It is indeed logical to think that a growth phase is matched by better future prospects, and this may indicate an interest in your industry's products in the years to come as well.

Appreciation of Made in Italy

Quanto sono apprezzati i prodotti Made in Italy nel Paese che stiamo valutando? Analizzando i livelli di importazioni dall’Italia, potresti scoprire che i prodotti offerti dal tuo business sono altamente graditi all’estero! 

Legislation and the presence of customs duties

Another element of fundamental importance is then the presence of customs duties, and more generally the legislation of the destination country. Considering product requirements, required certifications, and costs at customs is indeed a critically important step. 

Presence of marketplace

Infine, soprattutto per le aziende che non hanno avuto significative esperienze precedenti all’estero, bisogna valutare la presenza di marketplace dedicati al prodotto oggetto di valutazione. Infatti, in una nostra newsletter abbiamo parlato di tutti i vantaggi che queste piattaforme portano con sé: visibilità, posizionamento su internet e facilità di utilizzo. 

Are you interested in internationalizing your products and want to thoroughly evaluate possible target countries? Then contact us and we will give you the support you need.

Octagona is the right partner to support your company in the internationalization process: in almost 20 years we have successfully worked on more than 750 projects in internationalization, becoming one of the leading companies in International Advisory and among the top 5 in Italy.