Il Presidente Fausto Villa

FEDERTEC General Meeting: the recovery path is underway

At the Ordinary and Extraordinary FEDERTEC General Meeting, the signs of recovery already announced during last April’s Economic Day were confirmed. During the Assembly, in addition to the 2020 budget, the revision of the Statute was also approved, aimed at streamlining the governance structure and simplifying the elections of the association’s bodies.

By Silvia Crespi

The 2021 Ordinary and Extraordinary FEDERTEC General Meetings were held last 24 June, by teleconference, preceded by the assemblies of ASSIOT and ASSOFLUID. In addition to the Ordinary session, which was necessary to carry out the formalities provided for by the Association’s Statute, the extraordinary session was also summoned in order to amend some articles of the Statute. The decision, shared with the President’s Council and the Board of Directors, was to streamline the management of governance and the elections of the social bodies, by providing a single Board of Directors and unifying the elections of the association’s bodies every three years. President Fausto Villa addressed all members with a quote: The drop of water in the river does not ask how useful its existence is; it is the river itself. “We will certainly ensure,” he said, “that other drops of water are added to the river so that FEDERTEC becomes increasingly more visible and consolidated compared to the present position in the capital goods sector: a well-deserved position as FEDERTEC is most important association within FEDERMACCHINE in terms of turnover and its contribution to Italian GDP is really noteworthy”. “The revision of the organisation structure – said Di Monte, President of ASSOFLUID – is part of a strategy aimed at guaranteeing the representativeness of the sector and enhancing the best practices of the individual associations and working groups, developing a “system culture”. Mauro Rizzolo, President of ASSIOT, reiterated: “The revision of the association’s governance, and the consequent simplification of the electoral procedures, were fundamental. It is important to work to create a fertile ground for expanding the membership base”.

The signs of recovery are promising

At the Ordinary General Meeting, the encouraging data already disclosed during the Economic Day last April was reiterated. The economy is showing important signs of growth,” said Mr Villa, “as demonstrated by the data we collect from our members who, day after day, work in the field. As far as FEDERTEC is concerned, if the growth trend remains constant, we can forecast a total turnover at the end of the year of around €11 billion. However, the market is going through a phase of serious instability, marked by a strong growth in demand and by considerable increases in the price of raw materials due to their shortage: the classic game of power and speculation we face every time the market recovers. We are certainly optimistic about the future, but we are also aware that the challenges of digitalisation cannot be separated from the more global challenges of health, sustainability and ethics”.

The Government’s focus on businesses will be crucial

“We hope that the Government will pay special attention to Italian companies by further fostering funding to enable them to plan investments in line with Industry 4.0,” added Villa. These measures will be essential to work with greater vigour on training for new employees and for those already working in companies, in order to have the necessary knowledge to work in digitised factories; to act with a major action to promote technical school training and post-diploma courses (ITS). But, above all, we need to reduce the level bureaucracy of the state machine in order to accelerate the construction of a more efficient nation that will truly support Italy’s economic development. The President welcomed the new member companies that will bring new life to the association. He illustrated the activities carried out by the various committees, with particular emphasis on the activities of the FEDERTEC Academy, run by the Technology & Innovation Commission. He then outlined the activities that FEDERTEC intends to pursue: from promoting the FEDERTEC brand abroad, to creating partnerships with universities, technology parks and bodies dedicated to technological innovation… to perfecting FEDERTEC’s online image and increasing its presence on social channels and the press.

See you this autumn!

The next institutional appointment is for this autumn, when the elective Assembly will be summoned for the renewal of the social offices: it will also be the occasion to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASSIOT’s foundation. The President’s wish is to be able to hold the event “in presence”!