(Finance) – It was held this morning at Palazzo Piacentini the fifth plenary meeting of the Permanent Fashion Tableestablished by Mimit with the aim of welcoming the sector’s requests through a comparison between the interested parties within the framework of an industrial policy aimed at enhancing the national supply chains that the ministry has been promoting since the beginning of the legislature.
At the meeting – chaired by Minister Adolfo Urso and Deputy Minister Valentino Valentini – were present representatives of the Ministries of Labor, Economy, Culture, Foreign Affairs, Environment and Energy Security, exponents of the supply chain, business associations and the economic world, trade union representatives and local authorities.
At the center of the table – explains a note from MIMIT – the main challenges of the sector, from cyclical factors – such as the decline in production volumes, the contraction of consumption and geopolitical uncertainties – to support and protection measures for the sector.
“We have brought together the entire fashion supply chain to provide solutions to the main requests from companies in the sector”, Urso said. “We are committed to ensuring, together with ABI, the remodulation of bank loans, to guarantee companies in the sector the full use of resources for social safety nets and to introduce a final settlement measure regarding the long-standing issue of tax credits. Furthermore, we are working, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Institute of Foreign Trade, to promote the fashion sector on international markets and with the implementing decrees to the Made in Italy bill we are supporting the circular economy”.
In particular, on the subject of access to credit, Minister Urso he recalled during the meeting that, at the request of Mimit, an explanatory circular was sent in recent days by the Italian Banking Association (Abi) to banking institutions with provisions for the rescheduling of loans guaranteed by Sace, Simest and Medicredito obtained by companies during the Covid phase and following the crisis due to the Ukrainian conflict.
With respect to the critical issues that emerged in relation to the application of the R&S Tax Credit in the period 2015/2019 in the fashion sector, regulatory proposals are being studied. In this regard, Urso underlined the will of the Government, in particular of the Mimit and the Mef, to identify a solution to the problem through a specific regulatory instrument that could provide for a ‘balance and cancellation’, a formula that would allow those who have used this measure to avoid legal appeals.
Still on the subject of support for the sectorduring the round table, it was reiterated that Mimit’s commitment is also to implement the Made in Italy law, which in article 10 aims to enhance the supply chain of natural textile fibers and those from recycling processes in which incentive measures are foreseen in favor of the sector and for the tanning sector. The implementing decree is in the consultation phase.
On the subject of green transition, MimitUrso highlighted, is monitoring the Ecodesign Regulation, which came into force a few weeks ago, which introduces minimum eco-design requirements for each type of product. In this regard, the Minister announced that a dialogue has been started with the Mef to create a facilitation tool through vouchers already in the next Budget Law. When the summer break resumes, the Ministry will send a questionnaire to companies in the sector to understand the framework of production needs and requirements arising from the application of this regulation in order to develop implementing measures.
Finally, theOn the subject of social safety nets, Urso specified that discussions have been initiated with the Ministry of Labor to help companies in difficulty. Manufacturing companies with more than 15 employees are given the opportunity to fully utilize the resources for ordinary redundancy payments (with a possible extension to an extraordinary regime). While for those with fewer than 15 employees, the tool used will be provided by a fund managed by artisan associations that ensures six months’ coverage.