The Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Ivan Scalfarotto, participated in the videoconference on the economic recovery after Covid-19 and the collaborations between Italy and Switzerland jointly organised by the Swiss Embassy in Italy and the Swiss Chamber of Commerce with the participation of Swiss companies active in Italy.
On the day of Minister Di Maio’s mission to Ticino, the Undersecretary recalled that during the health emergency there was continuous cooperation at all levels with Switzerland on borders, border workers and international trade issues. “After yesterday we can only toast the reopening of the borders and the return to the free movement of people and goods. We are two countries that live from interaction with the world and for which international trade is a historical as well as social and cultural feature”.
The Undersecretary, hoping that a new meeting of the Italo-Swiss Economic Dialogue could be held by 2020, took the opportunity to thank the community of frontier workers who also worked during Covid emergency, ensuring continuity of economic activities and in particular essential ones.
“In 2019,” Mr Scalfarotto recalled, “the increase in our exports to Switzerland was 16.6% compared to the previous year, reaching 26 billion euros. This is the second-best performance of Italian exports after the one to Japan. We are also very satisfied with the contribution that Swiss companies are making to our market and we very much hope that the Swiss presence in Italy will increase in the near future”.
