Confitarma board meeting, Mattioli defends the registry

Rome - We must reignite Italy’s seafaring culture, and again define ourselves as a maritime nation.” This was underlined by the chairman of Italian shipowners association Confitarma, Mario Mattioli, in a speech at a meeting of the association held in Rome. Mattioli went on to stress the maritime cluster sector’s contribution to the Italian economy, a sector which - he said - “represents over 2% of the country’s overall GDP, and 3.5% of Italy’s non-public sector component, providing employment to almost 500,000 workers.” Mentioning how the maritime economy’s crucial role received recognition even by the EU, following which - explained Mattioli - “since the late 1980s, European Community guidelines were introduced on state aid to maritime transport, enabling EU-member countries to provide merchant fleets with various tax, operational and funding incentives,” aimed “at making them competitive in relation to countries with low or zero taxation” - Confitarma’s chairman recalled how “for Italy, that strategy was implemented through the International Registry, which this year marks the twentieth year since its establishment, brought about by law n. 30 of 1998. In twenty years - Mattioli remarked - we’ve renewed Italy’s fleet qualitatively, and actually doubled it: from about 8.5 million GRT we went to 16.3 million GRT by the end of 2017, despite the strong headwinds experienced over the last decade.” “Without the International Registry,” he added, “today we wouldn’t be here talking about the successes of our merchant fleet.” In order to bolster the maritime economy, Mattioli requested the minister to give back to the maritime sector “a dedicated governance structure, capable of enhancing its role as a driving force for Italy’s growth. Taking such an approach,” he added “is something that can no longer be postponed.” During his speech Mattioli also welcomed the return of the d’Amico Group to the association, expressing pride and satisfaction for the return of one of the most important Italian shipowning companies, one that contributed to the history and success of the Confitarma association by having provided three of its chairmen.