SAN MARINO – After the debate in the Foreign Affairs Commission on the Association Agreement with the European Union, the Party of Socialists and Democrats invites us to focus on the country’s development prospects. Having archived the phase of political discussion on rapprochement with Europe, according to the PSD the time has come to define how to use the opportunities offered by the Agreement.
The party recognizes the value of the result achieved with the signature, the result of long political, diplomatic and technical work which involved various Governments and political forces. A path completed by the Secretary of State Luca Beccari together with his team. The PSD also recalls that it has supported the European project since its inception, even in the presence of mistrust and resistance.
Among the sectors that will be able to benefit from greater integration into the single market, manufacturing is indicated, which represents approximately 40% of San Marino’s GDP. European opening, according to the party, will be able to encourage investments, innovation and reforms such as that of VAT.
Also pay attention to the banking and financial system, which is called to face a significant transformation. The fifteen years of transition envisaged by the Agreement, underlines the PSD, must not translate into a waiting period, but become an opportunity to strengthen credit institutions and improve services intended for citizens and businesses.
New opportunities may also concern professionals, artisans and service companies, called to deal with a broader and more competitive market. The party also calls for the need to valorise young people who have gained training experiences abroad, creating conditions so that they can return to San Marino without giving up their ambitions.
The transformation will also have to involve the public administration, through training, digitalisation and new skills. Euro-planning, research and innovation are also indicated among the areas to be developed, to encourage participation in European cooperation opportunities.
For the PSD, however, the Agreement does not automatically define the economic model that San Marino will have to adopt. For this reason the party proposes the development of a development plan with a time horizon of ten or fifteen years, capable of identifying the strategic sectors in which to invest, the activities to attract, the necessary infrastructures and the skills to be trained.
The project, according to the proposal, will have to be shared with the economic world, trade unions, universities, schools and young people. Growth must also be accompanied by policies for housing, transport, energy, healthcare and services, with the aim of improving the quality of life and strengthening the social protection system.
The PSD recognizes that San Marino reaches this stage with significant delays, after years focused above all on recovering economic stability and international credibility. Now, the party concludes, we need to go back to investing, innovating and planning for the future: “For too long we discussed what we couldn’t do. Now let’s start discussing what we can do. And above all, let’s start doing it”.
