Down with barriers, don't be frightened by Peter Mandelson
10 Oct '07
3 min read
Markets like China and India create competition but also opportunity. They are a huge and growing market for our goods. By 2010 the Chinese middle-class will be a market bigger than France, Germany and Spain combined, with a spending power of 1 trillion euros a year. The Indian middle class will be about the same size. These consumers don't look to their own producers to supply quality. They look to Europe and Italy.
Italian textile producers can rightly expect European and national governments to support them in a number of ways. First, with solidarity with workers affected by economic change - help in retraining and adjustment. But Europe's competitiveness policy should be much more than a safety net or a means of adjustment.
We must insist that others trade fairly and reciprocate our own openness. We will use future trade agreements such as the Doha Round and the FTA agreements we are currently negotiating to scrap the high tariffs many markets still maintain against our textile exports.
Just as important is the fight against counterfeiting. We have to protect trademarks so that our competitive advantage in quality is preserved. We have been putting intense pressure on the Chinese to crack down on piracy.
marketing@alchempro.com
