Italian industrial and trade associations were at center stage Wednesday at the ongoing government-sponsored economic summit, with Carlo Bonomi, the newly-elected head of the industrial group Confindustria calling for more collaboration between the public and private sector, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
Bonomi, who was elected to head the country's largest industrial sector association last month, said that collaboration between the private companies that make up Confindustria and the state was especially important as the country grapples with the challenges of restarting the economy in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
"Confindustria does not believe that the state has bad intentions and that the private sector is good," said Bonomi, who worked in the biomedical sector for most of his professional career. "What we want is a modern democracy with efficient institutions that work as they should."
Regarding economic policy, Bonomi called for greater efficiency on the tax incentives for companies.
"We cannot afford to wait for 60 months for value-added tax credits when in other countries it happens in less than six months," he said.
Bonomi also predicted Italian companies that had to halt production because of health concerns during the worst part of the coronavirus crisis would begin hiring new workers in the second half of the year.
Bonomi spoke during the ongoing Estates-General talks called by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte to help chart the best course for Italy as it seeks to restart its economy after weeks of coronavirus quarantine. The discussions got underway on Saturday and will last a total of nine sessions. Wednesday's discussions are one of the sessions.