The Istituto Mobiliare Italiano and the internationalisation of Italian businesses in the post-war period: The case of Italconsult, 1957-1973

The paper addresses a neglected aspect of IMI's activity in supporting the internationalisation of Italian industry in the post-war period: the creation of Italconsult in 1957, in partnership with some of the most important Italian private exporting industrial companies (Innocenti, Italcementi, Fiat, La Centrale, Montecatini and Sade, which were later joined by Pirelli, Edison and Finmeccanica). Italconsult aimed to coordinate the associated companies in sharing their technological know-how for the design of plants and supplies in tenders for large-scale works and contracts abroad. The initiative arose from the awareness, gained in IMI's experience of export credit, of the need to improve collaboration with foreign buyers, especially in backward countries, by combining financial assistance with technical assistance. In the first decade of its operation, Italconsult was able to make Italy one of the international players in the field of plant engineering, with exports concentrated in Latin America, Eastern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. It thus contributed to fuel Italy's foreign trade, that was one of the main pillars of the development model adopted by the country in the post-war years; and it also played a part in shaping Italy's cooperation policy with deve - loping countries. Subsequently, it experienced difficulties arising from the international crisis of the early 1970s and the growing problems of coordination between associated companies. On the basis of an original archival research and yet unpublished IMI records preserved in the Historical Archives of Intesa Sanpaolo, the paper aimed to trace the evolution of Italconsult and the role played by IMI in it.