Day two of Gov. DeSantis’ trade mission to Italy was spent in Viarreggio, a coastal city in Tuscany and the world’s leader in superyacht construction.
The Governor announced that a branch of Florida’s international trade development office would be opening in Italy in 2025 and he urged major yacht manufacturers to expand their operations in Florida.
Florida’s international trade development office, SelectFlorida, has 18 offices in 16 countries. The Italian office would assist companies in setting up shop in Florida.
DeSantis met with major shipyards Sanlorenzo, Benetti, and Overmarine, who have a presence in or projects in Pensacola, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami, respectively. He encouraged them to invest more in Florida’s ports and expand their Florida operations.
“Under the Governor’s leadership, this mission continues to be a success. Today was focused on Florida’s nation-leading yacht building industry—500 ship builders in total—who build more yachts than the rest of the nation combined,” said FloridaCommerce Secretary J. Alex Kelly. “Viareggio is the epicenter of the world yacht building industry and Florida is the epicenter of the yacht building industry outside of Italy, so today we strengthened this connection and demonstrated the powerful value that a new Italy-based SelectFlorida office would offer to both Florida’s and Italy’s marine industries job creators.”
Other stops on the five-day Italian trade mission include Rome, Florence, Turin, and Milan.
