Italy takes measures to boost competitiveness
The Italian government has unveiled a programme for economic reform in a bid to boost the country's declining competitiveness. The programme was announced at a meeting for industrialists and trade unions leaders on 24 February. The measures, presented by Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, include increased investment in research and development (R&D) and tax incentives to encourage mergers amongst the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that dominate Italy's economic landscape. The reforms aim to get rid of the structural inflexibilities of the economy that have consigned Italy to the bottom of the eurozone's growth league since the introduction of the euro in 1999. 'Italy can't become a country of waiters but must redesign its future, putting industry at the centre,' Andrea Pininfarina, vice-president of Confindustria, Italy's industrialists' association, was quoted as saying in the Financial Times. 'The current economic strategy risks deadening businesses with a tax cut policy totally disconnected from development.' According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Italy is finding it difficult to match Germany and France in raising the share of high-technology products in overall exports. Information and communication technology (ICT) products made up 5.6 per cent of Italian exports in 2001, a decrease of 0.3 per cent since 1991, whereas France increased its share to 10.9 from 7.6 per cent and Germany went up to 10.8 from 7.7 per cent. Part of the problem seems to stem from the fact that the majority of Italian companies are SMEs, thus limiting R&D spending. In 2001 Italy had 516,000 companies with less than 20 employees, compared with 224,000 in France and 182,000 in Germany. Meanwhile, Italian Education Minister Letizia Moratti has announced that a package of more than 460 million euro will be allocated to the southern region of Italy to revive scientific and technological research. This funding will finance industrial research and new public-private laboratories. 'The first financing of more than 253 million euro will go to support 119 industrial research projects. The aim is to create new processes for increased competitiveness in the Objective 1 regions [regions whose development is lagging behind]: Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Apulia, Sardinia and Sicily, in strategic sectors such as computers, new materials, mechanical and telecommunication technologies,' said Ms Moratti. The second round of funding of 212 million euro, for the creation of 12 public-private research and training laboratories, is 'an absolute first for the South', added Ms Moratti. 'We have chosen frontier areas: advanced medical diagnostics, personalised medicine, solar energy, seismology, new anti-infection medicines, innovative agricultural technologies, tourism, cultural heritage. Another innovation is the fact that ten per cent of this finance is aimed at the training of researchers. This will allow us to insert one hundred young researchers into the South's research system,' she concluded.
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Italy