It was established in 1926 with the Decreto reale n. 800 with the name of INE (Istituto nazionale per le esportazioni, "National Institute for Exports") and had the main task of "promoting the development of exports of products coming from the Italian soil and industry".

Subsequently, in 1945 it took the name ICE – Istituto nazionale per il commercio estero.

Starting from 1 January 2015, ITA owns about 64 offices worldwide,[2] in close collaboration with the diplomatic-consular network and with the Italian chambers of commerce located abroad.

Current president and general manager are Matteo Zoppas and Roberto Luongo respectively.

[5] CorCE first started in October 1962, with the first forty scholarships awarded by public tender and today it is a master's program for the internationalization of companies.