Year III March-April 2011 n. 2
in san marino
C ONTENTS INTERVIEW Matteo Ricci, President of the Province of
INFORMATION MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SAN MARINO
Pesaro-Urbino
Trade Register Happy Hour, Happy Business Meeting with the Minister of Labour San Marino desk in Miami Ecomercatale 2011
Flag: detail of the coat of arms Bandiera: dettaglio dello stemma
E DITORIAL Massimo Ghiotti - General Manager
We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we rent it from our children. Indian proverb Imagine if our energy supplies were suddenly cut off. No gas for the boiler, no more electricity, no more fuel at the filling station. Everything would stop – lifts, computers, telephones. No more food from afar, no more product manufacturing and distribution. Without energy, we should have to quickly start tilling the land, raising animals and digging wells. Many are the things we take for granted. Push a button to start the dishwasher; turn a key to start the car, lift up the phone to call your loved ones or customers or suppliers, send an email, go to the café for a coffee or to the supermarket to buy food to eat and water to drink. The fact is that we do not give enough importance to energy, we do not think about saving it and even less so about how to obtain it. San Marino buys nearly all its energy abroad. It has no energy resources of its own and so producing some inside the country and maybe adopting sys-
tems to save it is most definitely a strategic priority. A step in the right direction then are the incentives already implemented by the State for the application of eco-sustainable technologies such as photovoltaic panels, or those for the restructuring of homes according to energy-efficiency criteria. Because every kW we save or produce is a kW less that we have to buy outside and, furthermore, if we manage to save and create new jobs at the same time for those who design or install the new technologies we shall have obtained a double benefit. All the advanced States have placed the Green Economy at the centre of the growth of their economies. The building and plant engineering sectors in San Marino have been hit hard by the crisis. Just think if the conditions were created whereby all or at least part of the companies operating in these sectors were to become highly expert in eco-sustainable technologies through a new period of restructuring of all the homes in San Marino, thus acquiring skills to be subsequently used beyond our borders What we need is courage and plenty of incentives,
but the solution is the right one, because over the years the State spends what it saves and it is as if it were entering into joint ventures with its citizens or companies, investing money for current and future public saving. We need not invent anything. All we have to do is learn from those who are best at it, define clear and achievable goals and put together the people who have to do the necessary jobs. And it is in this spirit that, for the past four years, the San Marino Chamber of Commerce has been organizing Ecomercatale, the eco-compatible technologies and products Fair, uniting its energies with those of the Coordinamento per l’Agenda 21 and of the Borgo Maggiore Town Council, placing its confidence in the strength of the Green Economy to revive our economy. And it is for this reason that we have together set ourselves a number of goals and created the team which will help us to reach them. Ecomercatale will be the right place to talk about what has already been done and no longer about what needs doing.
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N EWS
ONLINE TRADE REGISTER AND COUNTER NOW AVAILABLE Less red tape, more transparency and computerisation. These are just some of the guidelines on which the Chamber of Commerce has always closely focused. And now, another fundamental piece has been added to the complex mosaic of services available to companies. The TRADE REGISTER is finally online. Users will be able to access a broad range of activities conveniently from their own computers. All they have to do is log onto the page https://registroimprese. cc.sm to enter a real virtual counter where they will find many of the services provided by the Chamber of Commerce such as, for example: company detail updates, financial statements, Guida Titano detail updates, certificates of origin applications, registration certificate applications, smart car for the electronic signature and many others.
It must be stressed that, until the procedure is begun for “the centralization of the keeping of public registers on companies and enterprises” as required by art. 43 of Law no. 194 dated 22 December 2010, the company searches will not have certification validity and official documents will have to continue to be obtained from the competent offices.
Among the already-available services, the big novelty is being able to download Chamber of Commerce business register file searches. The procedure is simple and intuitive: each file search costs € 3 and to receive it all users have to do is register on the website, send payment (by credit card or bank transfer), from a minimum of € 15,00 up to a maximum of € 250,00. After that, it is simply a case of entering a username and password, assigned automatically by the system, to be able to display and print the file searches relating to companies operating in the Republic of San Marino.
SIMONA MICHELOTTI - President of the Chamber of Commerce “Translating words into concrete facts has always been an exciting challenge. We can therefore only be more than satisfied now that the online trade register has become operative. A concrete step forward towards greater transparency and less red tape which has required almost two years of commitment. The new challenge will be to upgrade this virtual counter even further so that San Marino enterprises can access the services provided by the Chamber of Commerce even more easily and, at the same time, so that it might become an effective and professional work tool for anyone wanting to do business in our Republic”.
Via Cinque Febbraio - 47899 Serravalle Republic of San Marino Tel. (+378) 0549 900190 - Fax (+378) 0549 960125 info@palacehotelsanmarino.com
The Best Idea to be the Protagonist 2 march-april 2011
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I NTERVIEW
Matteo Ricci President of the Province of Pesaro-Urbino President, in this very delicate economic phase, what is the importance of cooperation between San Marino and Italian institutions? A strategic value I should say. Cooperation between our Province and the Republic of San Marino has always been close, but now needs intensifying and strengthening. This would be beneficial for San Marino, which in this phase is trying to change its idea of development, and also for Pesaro-Urbino, in order to tackle the crisis. Parochialism puts a brake on economic growth, and that is why, just as soon as we took up office last year, we began promoting dialogue with all neighbouring areas. Concretely speaking, what projects have been undertaken? A first interesting example is that of the Technological Scientific Park which sees the forces of our Province join up with those of the Province of Rimini and the University of San Marino. It is a great chance for general development and we are working to access European funds to carry out feasibility studies. An ambitious project, also being approached from an infrastructural viewpoint, is the new Territorial Coordination Plan which aims at changing the last section of the Piedmont road, extending it from Lunano to San Marino. This too is a strategic decision inasmuch as this way the road linking the Foglia Valley to the Conca Valley would become an inter-provincial and inter-state highway. And how are things proceeding in the tourist sector? Until now, there has never been any real cooperation in this direction because in our economy, tourism has always been a marginal sector, accounting for about 7% of produced income. The driving force of our economy has always been the manufacturing industry. On the contrary, in the Province of Rimini, tourism accounts for about 75% of income. But the crisis has persuaded us to join forces and support one another reciprocally to create a shared future. On its part in fact, the Province of Rimini has expressed the need to extend and diversify its range of tourist proposals in order to maintain the large numbers achieved by also including the coastal and inland areas of the Marche region. On our part, we have set ourselves the goal of transforming that 7% into 15%, thus making up some of the ground lost by the manufacturing industry due to the crisis.
Finally, what initiatives is the Province of Pesaro-Urbino putting into place to tackle the crisis? When times are hard, it is important to know who you are and where you are going. Ours is an active and dynamic province, the third in Italy in terms of security and the sixth for the quality of life. On the basis of such strong foundations, we have identified as our priority goal that of becoming number one in terms of Gross Domestic Happiness, the index used to measure the quality of life. Out of this precise intention, the “Province 2020 – Projects for a happy community” saw the light: a new model of development characterising the brand of our area and which finds its raison d’être in the achievement of the happiness of all its inhabitants. The first step towards this goal has been to enter into an agreement with the ISTAT for the development of a new indicator, the BES (Sustainable Fair Wellbeing) able to measure the degree of satisfaction of the public with respect to the choices – infrastructures, health, buildings, eco-sustainability, social aspects – made by the Province. What the ISTAT will do is measure the progress made in our area of jurisdiction by adding to the growth index, the GDP, other factors such as sustainability, social security, life expectations, social disparities, relational quality and democratic participation. Planning wellbeing is possible and we want to prove it.
How have these aims been put into practice? By means of a phase of cooperation that will take the Province of Pesaro-Urbino inside the Rimini-San Marino Airport with a small shareholding. We cannot be cut out of the enormous economic and tourist benefits offered by the airport. At the same time, we are pondering over a tourist project for the Montefeltro area to strengthen its historical and cultural importance by focusing on quality tourism and creating new jobs.
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H APPY BUSINESS
New businesspersons grow The Chamber of Commerce presents New Ideas New Enterprises 2011 Numerous youngsters and would-be entrepreneurs took part in the customary aperitif party “Happy Hour, Happy Business”, organized once again this year by the Chamber of Commerce to present New Ideas New Enterprises 2011. The competition, now in its tenth year, rewards the most innovative business ideas and assists new businesspersons along the various stages of the road towards implementing their projects, from the idea through to operation. The event was introduced by the interventions of a number of members of the Nuove Idee Nuove Imprese Promotion Committee – a successful synergy between Italian and San Marino institutions - who stressed the crucial role played in our society by youngsters who, with their creativity and training, have all it takes to instil fresh life into the economic system of San Marino and the surrounding district.
GIULIANO TALA CCI and FRANCESCO FIL OMENA Nyquist S.r.l. 1st prize (20.00 0 Euro)
For NYQUIST (a Hardware and So ftware consultancy firm set up at the sa me time as registration in th e co first prize not only mpetition), having taken the represents a big professional satis confirmation of its faction and a “mission”, but al so makes possib an innovative hi-t le the start of ech project: the de velopment of a de ning a PC Tablet vice combiwith a professiona l electronic instru The training cour ment. se that led to the drawing up of th siness Plan was e winning Bufund PC Tablet with OS amental not only for the “Digital Luthier on Android” project but also boosted in NYQUIST of a business culture the growth indispensable for the present and competing on future market.
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An opportunity which this year was extended to the residents of all the Italian regions, even though the obligation still remains to open the new companies in the province of Rimini or the Republic of San Marino. A winning formula with soaring numbers of people anxious to take part - 280 participants for a total of 103 business projects, compared to 45 projects in 2010. A concrete aid for anyone with clear ideas, but who does not have the resources to start up business, as was the case of last year’s winners. www.cc.sm (Young businesspersons section) www.nuoveideenuoveimprese.org
CÉLINE ORTOLA NI Le Case di Chlo è 3st prize (6.000 Euro)
“I cannot but be satisfied with th is experience: startin g with training ac tivities which helped m e understand ho w a company works and outline my develo pment path. Winning this prize also further stim ulated me to go ahead with this bu siness adventure and now that my starting to take sh dreams are ape, all I have to do is roll up my get down to work! sleeves and ”
L ABOUR
Overcoming and preventing the labour market crisis The Chamber of Commerce meets the Minister of Labour The employment crisis, the possible solutions and the measures for preventing it. These were the topics at the centre of the meeting between the new Minister of Labour, Francesco Mussoni, and the President and the Director of the San Marino Chamber of Commerce, Simona Michelotti and Massimo Ghiotti. A technical debate enabled us to examine the issue starting with a solid general view of the situation, considering the data and the information in possession of the Ministry and the daily contacts between the Chamber of Commerce and local businesses. During the course of the discussion, the Chamber of Commerce brought to the attention of the Minister a number of examples of good practices and policies adopted by other countries to address the economic and labour market crisis, thereby trying to take interesting cues from international experiences in order, if necessary, to adapt them to the requirements of our Republic.
GOOD PRACTICES IN THE WORLD
Most countries, for example, have introduced greater flexibility as regards benefit access criteria for the unemployed and upgraded labour market intermediation services and programs. The USA, Canada and Chile have decided to avail themselves of the experience of previous economic crises to once again start up and redesign incentive and support programs. Other effective measures taken in Japan, Jordan and Montenegro have on the other hand involved the creation of ad hoc services to support groups of workers strongly hit by the crisis, especially youngsters seeking jobs, laid-off workers and over 45s; in countries like Hungary, Turkey and Mexico, the labour system has been completely revamped with a reduction in work hours, to prevent having to dismiss workers and allow companies to maintain skilled personnel.
SMALL STEPS, GOOD RESULTS Some ideas in support of the population have turned out to be very effective. Like that implemented in Canada which uses the funds of the Youth Employment Program to finance the no-profit sector and transform the summer jobs of students into full-time employment; another small but important initiative was to extend the opening hours of the Employment Insurance call center ( a government service providing temporary financial assistance to unemployed Canadians) and also open it on Saturdays.
Germany and Hungary have instead established specific job-keeping measures. In the first case in fact, benefits have been increased for employees with reduced working hours and, furthermore, the Federal work Service covers 50% or even 100% of the social contributions payable by employers if the latter allow their employees to attend training courses or programs designed specifically for the particular sectors to which they belong. On the same wavelength is Hungary, where the Start Program involves exemption from contributions for two years for anyone who employs youngsters at their first job experience, new mothers and unemployed persons over 50. Finally, the Chamber of Commerce stated its satisfaction that a number of practices, such as the training and financial assistance to new companies provided in the UK, have for some time been at the centre of interest in our Republic which, through the Youth Entrepreneurship Commission and the support given to Nuove Idee Nuove Imprese, has come to appreciate the importance of training and innovation incentives.
FRANCESCO MUSSONI Minister of Labour “Tangible, innovative and real proposals are crucial for bringing the country out of the labour market crisis. For this reason, it was interesting to learn from the Chamber of Commerce what initiatives have been taken at international level to prevent and find solutions to the employment alarm which, today more than ever, also involves our Republic. Comparing our domestic situation with that of other countries is in fact always important because, besides representing a source of enrichment, it helps us view our specific situation with greater clarity and in a more rational way, and above all it enables us to create interesting opportunities on the basis of already-consolidated experiences�.
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I NTERNATIONALIZATION
UNITED STATES: A PROJECT FOR SAN MARINO During the course of a panel discussion promoted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and organised by the Chamber of Commerce, the Ambassador at disposal Luca Minna, presented, in a very straightforward and clear way, a project of his for the promotion of the Republic. The meeting was also extended to the members of the Club Estero (Foreign Club) of the Chamber of Commerce who were able to present their companies and exchange opinions with a privileged interlocutor. A concrete and far-sighted proposal that of the Ambassador, who illustrated, point by point, a draft of agreement for the setting up of a San Marino Chamber of Commerce Desk inside the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce of Miami. A unique chance for our Republic, which would thus be represented in an in-depth and continuative way in a major city like Miami, a leading US business centre and access gate for the south-American market into the USA. An initiative born under a lucky star considering the San Marino origins of the President of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce, Marco Ferri. An opportunity in many different ways, first and foremost the promotion of the Republic in such a qualifying context. Secondly, the chance for young San Marino citizens to work at the desk for a period of three months and to have access to the complete database placed at disposal by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce, using the media, assistance and over twenty years of experience of the Miami Chamber of Commerce.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Antonella Mularoni, in thanking Ambassador Minna for the work he is doing in favour of the Republic of San Marino, expressed satisfaction for the strong interest shown by the Trade Associations and the San Marino business sector and her intention to shortly present the agreement proposal to the State Congress in order to implement this interesting initiative just as quickly as possible.
(San Marino Entrepreneurs’ Association) Requalification and promotion of trade and tourism in San Marino. These, according Organizzazione Sammarinese degli Imprenditori to the OSLA are the key concepts behind the economic recovery of our country and analysed during the course of the meeting “Attractions and Quality of San Marino Trade and Tourism”. A workshop to promote forms of cooperation between the State and the economic players with the aim of implementing a reconversion of the sectors and setting up commercial poles centred on the development and evolution of tourism, trade and local products. Many are the services involved: from car parks to shuttles to and from town centres, from sidewalks to street lighting, from cultural and entertainment infrastructures to tourist and shopping attractions such as outlets, restaurants, night clubs, children’s areas and lots more. The aim, in brief, is to create a complete package able to diversify domestic consumption and increase the appeal of our Republic. 6 march-april 2011
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The round table has involved the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Industry, the Chamber of Commerce, the Trade Associations ANIS, OSLA, UNAS, USC and USOT.
MARCO ARZILLI - Minister for Industry “Meetings like today’s cannot but make us feel optimistic because they go precisely in the direction we had always hoped. On the one hand, the promotion of the Republic of San Marino abroad becomes increasingly more concrete and, as part of the project presented by the Ambassador, this would fall within a top-level and qualifying context. On the other, today’s talks have extended the horizons of trade relations between San Marino and US companies, which already have firm foundations but need to be developed even further”. SIMONA MICHELOTTI – President of the Chamber of Commerce “I thought Ambassador Minna’s proposal was really interesting. With his enthusiasm, he renewed our desire to look beyond our borders and be leading actors in the future of our Republic. An enthusiasm which was also triggered by rediscovering San Marino inside the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce through the magazine published by our Chamber of Commerce. This was something that gave us a great deal of pleasure considering that we have always promoted our country with strong determination and that such promotion is made up of many different pieces which altogether go to form that complex mosaic called internationalization. Our daily job, which consists of informing San Marino companies and providing them with the backing they need, also includes organizing encounters like these with foreign diplomatic delegations, in order to reach the heart of trade relations and assess the real opportunities that exist for cooperation abroad. That is why we are so proud to be able to also open up these official meetings to San Marino business persons, today taking part as members of the Chamber of Commerce’s Club Estero. This is one of the many aspects of the role played by the Chamber of Commerce as a medium between the State and the business world”.
The meeting of the Board of Directors of 23 March 2011 has approved the draft financial statements to be submitted to the Shareholders’ Meeting on 8 May next. Direct deposit taking totalled 1,368 million Euro, a 6.71% drop compared to the 15.8% drop recorded by the system. Loans to customers grew by 3.74% confirming the support given to the San Marino economy. The risk funds amount to 57.3 million Euro after making further accruals totalling 6 million Euro. The net profit amounts to € 7.5 million Euro, 36% allocated for dividends (the unitary dividend of €1,20 remains unchanged) and the remainder to capital and reserves. The total Capital and Reserves amounts to 216.4 million Euro determining capital ratios (Tier 1 Capital ratio) amounting to 19.86% and solvency ratios of 20,58%, all above the average of Italian banks of the same size and which confirm the solidity of the Banca di San Marino Group. The Bank has approved a computer system optimisation project, has developed a group Risk Management plan and has made heavy investments in employee managerial training. in san marino
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E VENTS Once again at Borgo Maggiore, on 28th and 29th May
ECOMERCATALE
the energy and eco-compatible product fair! ECO-COMPATIBLES… are back!! Meaning compatible with the environment and which do not damage nature and human beings. Every day, our homes, means of transport and industries consume huge quantities of energy and water, producing wastes that are difficult to dispose of and atmospheric pollution. We must realise that resources are not endless and that each and every one of us must play a part in sustainable development. There are many ways of helping the environment – thereby upgrading the quality of the lives of us all – starting with the small gestures we perform every day: from pre-sorted waste collection, building technologies involving low energy consumption, less heat dispersion, rain water recovery and mobility with electric vehicles and eco-efficient cars. Ecomercatale wants to teach adults and children alike how to best behave on a daily basis and which technological solutions already exist for best safeguarding our planet. And to do this, it implements numerous initiatives during the last week of May (film shows, meetings) which terminate with a real party event - forming a framework for the exhibition proper are workshops, 0 km cooking and live shows. PROMOTED BY
WITH THE SUPPORT
INFO www.cc.sm (sezione eventi) www.agenda21.sm
C HAMBER OF COMMERCE The San Marino Chamber of Commerce is a joint-stock company with mixed public and private capital, held for 51% by the state of San Marino and for 49% by trade associations (ANIS, OSLA , UNAS, USC and USOT), banks (Banca Agricola Commerciale, Banca di San Marino, Cassa di Risparmio and Credito Industriale Sammarinese) and the University of San Marino. It offers support services for companies and organizes promotional activities for the territory and the local economy. For enterprise, it provides a channel of access to the public administration, the meeting point between industry and the state.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Simona Michelotti - President of the Chamber of Commerce Silvano Andreani Paride Bugli Riccardo Cervellini Emanuel Colombini Giorgia Gasperoni Giorgio Petroni Vladimiro Renzi Gian Franco Terenzi
Year III - March-April 2011 - n. 2 Executive Editor: Massimo Ghiotti Editorial Team: Marianna Bucci Camera di Commercio di San Marino S.p.A. Str. di Paderna, 2 - 47895 Fiorina di Domagnano - RSM Tel. 0549-980.380 - Fax. 0549-944.554 - Mail: info@cc.sm
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STAFF Massimo Ghiotti - General Manager Evelina Guglielmi - Quality and Production Department Roberto Bucci - Fairs and events organization consultant Marco Macina - Executive Assistant and IT Department Jessica Dell’Ominut - Accounting and Secretarial Office Federica Tonelli - Legal Office Massimo Zani - Buying and Sales Department Marianna Bucci - Marketing Department Nicola Michi - Production and Planning Department
Graphic Design: 3 STUDIO Printed on: STUDIO STAMPA Circulation 1500 copies