National Programs

This roundtable focused on problems presented by rapid development in the telecommunications sector and prospects for growth. The diverse platforms, each with their special characteristics and peculiarities, provide the customer with a variety of choices and services, in accordance with their particular needs. In order to compete, businesses must present their products in original ways as well as satisfy the customer’s demand for an interactive and personalized product.

The Roundtable dealt with a series of strategic issues concerning the Italian bank system, including the high cost of Italian bank serivces compared to other European countries; the limited size of the banks which doesn’t favor the internationalization of business; the difficulty in financing innovation and the common problem -especially in Southern Italy – of credit rationing. Banks stated that the cost of individual bank accounts in Italy are lower than France, Spain and Germany because of special agreements, payment on uninvested capital and joint holders.

This roundtable highlighted the need to redesign Italy’s infrastructure network in a fashion that is coherent with demand. Lower-cost projects that offer an immediate return on investment are of particular importance. Strategic priority should be given to ports and to train tunnels in order to facilitate the flow of commerce from the Far East.