Tuscany, central Italy, is ranked second in the country in terms of foreign companies, whose number stood at 40,083 in 2006, according to the regional economy institute IRPET.
The ranking was topped by Lombardy with 117,000 companies set up by foreign businessmen.
The number of the foreign businesses in Tuscany increased by 77.2 pct between 2000 and 2006, against a 3.8 pct rise in the number of Italian businesses.
Most of the foreign businessmen operated in the trade sector, where the number of foreign companies stood at 11,223 in 2006, up by 74.5 pct compared to 2000. In the construction sector foreign companies were 10,221, up by 271.8 pct from 2000.
A total 32 pct of the foreign businesses, or 7,740 companies, was concentrated in Florence, followed by Prato with 3,798 and Pisa with 2,398.
Chinese topped the list of foreign businessmen in Tuscany, followed by Albanese, Moroccans and Romanians.
