Turin itself has an international atmosphere and is at the centre of the region's cultural, commercial and industrial activities. The city has also been chosen by the International Olympic Committee to play host to the Winter Olympics in February 2006. The successful bid to host the Games is expected to lead to significant investment in a variety of sectors, speed up the development of planned infrastructural projects and help raise the international profile of the city.

Economy:
As with most modern economies, the importance of the service sector has grown considerably in Turin in recent years. The city has built on its strong industrial tradition and has developed a diverse economy. Turin has a long established automotive industry that continues to play an important role in the local economy. Fiat is one of the city's largest employers and several other companies which operate in the components and car design sectors, such as SKF, Dayco, Bertone, Italdesign-Giugiaro and Pininfarina, are resident in Turin. Other industries with a strong presence include electronics, engineering, food, printing and publishing, steel, textiles, and rubber.

The city's service sector is flourishing and Turin plays host to prominent companies in the banking, insurance and ICT sectors. Italy's most important bank, Istituto Bancario San Paolo, has its headquarters in Turin and the second largest savings bank, CRT bank also operates in the city. Turin is also home to the Banca Popolare di Novara and three of Italy's top insurance companies, Sai, Toro and Reale Mutua Assicurazioni. The headquarters of Stet-Telecom Italia, the world's sixth largest telecommunications company, are also located in the city.

Some of the Turin's largest companies in the agricultural sector include the coffee producer Lavazza Ltd, and wine and spirit producers such as Cinzano, Martini & Rossi and Gancia.

Local Infrastructure:
The Piedmont region benefits from a good transport infrastructure. Turin international airport is situated just west of Turin and, in 2001, handled more than 2.8 million passengers and nearly 15,000 tons of cargo. The airport is home to dozens of airlines and flies to numerous destinations throughout Europe. Intercontinental flights to and from the main destinations in North America and the Far East are available from Milan's Malpensa Airport, which is located just 100 kilometres from Turin. An extensive network of motorways and railways connects Turin with all the principle towns and cities in the north of Italy, the South of France and beyond. Piedmont's motorway network is connected to Europe's main motorways via three Alpine tunnels and Paris can be reached directly in less than six hours by train from Turin. Furthermore, building is currently underway on one of Europe's main high-speed rail lines, which will reduce the journey time to Paris to approximately 3 hours 30 minutes and bring London within 6 hours of Turin by train.

Within the city there are extensive bus and tram networks, while bus and local railway services link the city and the surrounding towns. The city's tram system benefits from considerable and steady funding from central government which has enabled the network to remain modern and efficient.

Local Workforce:
Labour shortages in Turin are not really a problem since, according to Torino Internazionale, an association responsible for the economic development of Turin, the unemployment rate in the Province of Torino in 2000 was 11.2 per cent overall and 20 per cent among young people. Both these levels are higher than in most of the other industrialised areas in the Centre-North of the country.

Education in Turin and the surrounding area is well provided for and the city is home to the University of Turin, which was first founded at the beginning of the 15th century. The city also boasts the educational centre at the Politecnico of Turin, which is well known as a centre of excellence in IT research.

Standard of Living:
The Piedmont region is one of the richest in the EU and boasts a strong tradition for excellent food and wine, together with a vast artistic and cultural heritage. As a result, this part of Italy is a pleasant place in which to live and work. The region also benefits from picturesque mountains, offering first class skiing facilities, beautiful nature reserves and lakes and is less than 1 hour away from the coast.

Business Costs:
In the report 'Competitive Alternatives' published in January 2002 by KPMG, Turin was ranked as one of the top business locations in Europe in terms of business costs. The report, which analysed 27 cost components in 85 cities, ranked Turin joint fourth out of 19 cities in continental Europe.

Figures published in 2001 by the international property consultants, King Sturge, show that average rent for prime warehouse and light industrial property in Turin was 57 euros per square metre per annum, compared with an average in Western Europe of 78 euros and an average in Eastern Europe of 89 euros. The costs in Berlin, Frankfurt, Lyon and Paris were 74, 98, 58 and 69 euros respectively.