<%@LANGUAGE="VBSCRIPT" CODEPAGE="1252"%> Civic Network of South Tyrol

Welcome to South Tyrol

Trade and commerce

trade and commerceIts geographical position as a transit land between the important economic areas to the north and to the south has long made South Tyrol a significant trading and commercial area. The first documentary evidence of a developed market activity in Bozen dates from the year 1070. In a customs treaty with Trient in 1202 there is already a reference to "annual markets" in Bozen. A chronicle of 1224 reported that the town was being visited by many merchants, and ten years later a first market regulation is to be found. A document of 1274 refers to two markets annually in Bozen. Since the thirteenth century Bozen's reputation as a market place and goods transhipment centre of European trade expanded. Under the Archduchess Claudia de Medici the Bozen Fairs received - in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries - their golden age. It is from this period that the Mercantile building in Bozen's Silbergasse dates, which shows even today the prosperity of Bozen's merchants. At the turn of the nineteenth century the Bozen Fair gradually started to decline. With that began the end of a market tradition which only a century later was resumed in modern form.

Faced with the economic ruin of the Second World War, in 1947 leading businessmen, administrative experts and politicians took the initiative in reviving the old Fair's tradition in Bozen. Thus the first new style Bozen Fair was held between 12 and 27 September 1948. Since then the Bozen Fair has continuously grown, has expanded considerably, and plays a crucial role in the commercial activity of the Province. With the establishment of the new Bozen Fair in the Trading Estate Bozen-Süd, which has been opened in the first month of 1998, the great hopes for Fair operations that are sophisticated, highly specialised and respond to contemporary requirements, could have been fulfilled and an important step towards the future could have been done.

Because of its favourable position at the centre of Europe, South Tyrol has, nationally and internationally, special importance as a goods transhipment centre. With some 28,532 employees - 12.9 per cent of all employed in South Tyrol - trade and commerce play a significant role in South Tyrol's economic structure. The wholesale sector alone employs 11,200 persons in 1,931 firms and has still the function of a liaison between the markets in the south and in the north of South Tyrol. In South Tyrol there are at present some 7,400 retail firms in South Tyrol employing 24,860 persons. Trade and commerce have developed well in recent years. In particular the wholesale trade has improved its structures qualitatively and expanded its supply. The retail trade in South Tyrol, however, is rather fragmented. But in comparison with the rest of Italy, South Tyrol stands better: there is a better balance between large, medium- and small-sized commercial firms. Small retail firms are to be found everywhere in the Province whereas the wholesale firms are concentrated in the towns. The retail trade has the function of distribution in South Tyrol. The most important trading partners of the Province are Germany and Austria.

According to the second Autonomy Statute the Province of South Tyrol had secondary powers in the field of trade and commerce (only in relation to fairs and markets it enjoyed primary powers). By the constitutional law n°3/2001the Province gets the primary and exclusive legislative power in the sector of the commerce.

With Provincial Law n.2/95 the regulation dealing with commercial travellers has been completely revised. This modified regulation now brings in many respects this sector into line with that of the fixed premises retail trade. By a special regulation wholesale activity has been put together with the other production sectors (industry and crafts) and can therefore be carried out in production zones. For the establishment of wholesale firms trading estates of provincial interest have been identified: Bozen-South (53.3 hectares), Neumarkt (4 hectares) and Meran-Sinich (5.5 hectares).

The public authorities also attach a great importance to market promotion, either through direct sponsorship or through Chambers of Commerce and professional organizations. What is particularly involved are markets for typical South Tyrolese agricultural products for which a separate trademark (for milk products, apples, raspberries and strawberries, bacon, honey and spirits, bread and Strudel) has been introduced. This promotion is done by means of provincial stands at big European fairs, through support for joint exhibitions or through subsidies to individual exhibitors. For the support of quality products provided with the seal of quality and the label "Alto Adige - Südtirol" advertising campaigns were organised.
In the future the tertiary sector, and particularly the commercial sector will take on an even greater significance on account of developments at European level, and here too South Tyrol has shown that it stands good chances for success.