Italy adapts subsidy law - Swiss machine manufacturers can breathe a sigh of relief
The Italian government's «Italy First Plan» threatened to put Swiss machine manufacturers at a massive disadvantage. Special depreciation should only apply to machines from the EU or the EEA. Now the all-clear has been given: Italy has included Switzerland in the list of exceptions. This also means a sigh of relief for swissQprint.
In February, the Italian government decided on massive special depreciation for machines from the EU or the EEA. Swiss machine manufacturers suddenly found themselves at a massive disadvantage - and the first effects were not long in coming. The large-format printer manufacturer swissQprint from Kriessern received order cancellations in the millions. Swiss politicians initially reacted hesitantly to the problem.
Swissmem alerted the Swiss authorities in January. Exports from the tech industry worth one billion Swiss francs were at stake. Now the all-clear has been given: Italy's Deputy Minister of the Economy has announced that the law will be amended. «Swissmem is very pleased and relieved,» the tech association told the platform Business Class East. «We would like to thank the relevant federal authorities for their successful support for Switzerland as a workplace.»
SwissQprint expects new orders
There is relief at swissQprint. «This news opens up excellent prospects for swissQprint, as our printers are also in high demand in Italy due to their exceptional quality,» explains swissQprint CEO Kilian Hintermann. The new subsidy law will significantly stimulate investment in Italy and thus sustainably increase the market potential. The printers ready for delivery can now be shipped. «We are expecting further orders from our southern neighbor in the coming weeks,» says Hintermann.
According to Swissmem, it is now desirable for Italy to provide official information quickly so that the uncertainty among Italian customers is finally resolved. In several cases, purchases of Swiss machines were suspended in January. The Italian regulation was primarily about the defense against cheap imports and not about high-tech products from Switzerland.
