as you know, I spend quite a sizeable amount of my free time defending my country- and it is quite unusual, for somebody from the Left of the political spectrum, in my country.
Few years ago, I wanted to bring back what I learned abroad, and helped to create few startups and improve the operations of others (not necessarily for money 
), while preparing to “switch off” my activities abroad: I started to see how the country business and cultural environment deteriorated from late 1980s to late 1990s.
Coming back once in a while to help other companies, and, more recently, to give free advice on introducing new technologies, I saw an acceleration of the deterioration of the fabric of society.
Trust me, it was a really expensive lesson.
And it is not due to current government, no matter what my fellow political friends say. It is a shared responsibility of both the citizens and the ruling class over more than 20 years.
The country is so inward looking, that it focuses only on the short term and personal benefit- doing something for free for the common good elicits conspiracy theories, instead of praise 
I have already many Italian (real world, not online) friends who are or looking forward to move abroad- not for choice, but because they see no future for the country: and everytime they tell me more stories to add to my black book
So, while I will keep giving free advice to my foreign friends who want to visit the country, I cannot really keep giving (free or not) advice to other foreign business friends on how to do business in Italy.
What I will do instead, is helping Italian companies that I can trust to work abroad, as the skills and willingness to do exist in Italy, and I think that more graduates should stay in Italy.
Eventually, these and other happy few will learn that things can be done in a different, normal way, and maybe Italy too will become a normal country, through their example.
(Ok, my English friends certainly know where the “happy few” quote comes from 
for my Italians friends: “Fatti non foste per viver come bruti, ma per seguir virtute e conoscenza”)
Otherwise, I will keep meeting abroad and in Italy Italian graduates who move abroad not to build something locally, but to try and replicate building an “Italian way” abroad- and the country will never move ahead: at best, they will export a cultural disease (see how many Italians abroad can give advice about their cultural heritage).
PS Incidentally, that’s why since I moved abroad in late 1990s I avoided Italians abroad, unless they were already friends that I had in Italy- because most Italians abroad carry along with them the same “Italian way” that I saw since at least 1980s slowly corrupting the country…
PPS If, despite what I wrote, you want to do business in Italy coming from abroad, I wish you good luck 
Tags: belgium, emigration, italy, leave, network