The Yomiuri Shimbun

It is generally believed that paper, a Chinese invention, was introduced to Europe by Arab merchants during the 13th century.

The paper is said to have landed in Fabriano, a tiny town in the Marche region of central Italy. The town, which later grew into the center of the European papermaking industry, developed the technique of watermarking. As the technique could be used to imbue paper with a monetary value, the city is credited as the birthplace of banknotes in Europe.

The company, known today as Fabriano, was originally founded in 1782 by the Miliani family. Following mergers with and acquisitions of papermaking factories in the area, the firm developed into a leading paper manufacturer, and turned Fabriano into an industrial town.

During the 1930s, when Italy was under fascist rule, Fabriano was nationalized. The Italian mint became the firm's top shareholder in the 1980s.

The firm returned to the private sector in 2002, when it was taken under the wing of the Fedrigoni Group, a leading Italian papermaking firm.

Over the years, Fabriano paper has grown into a globally recognized brand.

The firm makes a wide range of products, including diaries, notebooks, copy paper and art paper. Fabriano paper also is used for euro banknotes issued by the Italian and Greek mint bureaus and a portion of Indian and Indonesian banknotes.

At its main headquarters, skilled craftsmen hand-produce "carta a mano" (handmade paper) using a traditional method from the Middle Ages. The top-quality paper is used for such products as diploma certificates.

The department also supplies paper to the Italian president's office, and Italian President Giorgio Napolitano is known to use Fabriano's letter-writing pads.

In 2008, the firm registered global sales of about 254 million euros (about 33 billion yen), with overseas sales accounting for 44 percent of the total.