The minister went on to refer to the positive signals arriving from abroad and voiced his worries about the domestic market. For this reason, it will be necessary to plan adequate instruments capable of solving the knotty problems of the sector. “I really think that the job is to engage the banks in more virtuous relationships, more direct and, above all, more courageous in this sector. We must foster investments in machinery as much as possible. And just as the way it was for Sabatini manufacturing (legislation named for a past minister), we have to think of instruments which help and incentivate the renewal of the machinery inventory also on the side of agiculture,” he affirmed. Among the instruments discussed by Martina was the set of European Union Rural Development Plans which could be considered for facilitating and supporting the modernization of agricultural machinery and technologies. This point was taken up in dealings between the minister and regional representatives but full agreement has not yet been reached. Martina noted that the path was still open and the discussion would move ahead.

Bologna, 13 November 2014