A development plan spanning the next ten to fifteen years, capable of reshaping San Marino’s economy by harnessing the opportunities offered by the Association Agreement with the European Union.
That is the proposal put forward by the Party of Socialists and Democrats (PSD) in the wake of the debate held in the Foreign Affairs Committee.
For the party, now that the long negotiation phase has concluded, the time has come to determine which sectors to strengthen, which investments to attract, and how to prepare the country for the new European rules.
“After years in which political discussion focused mainly on the choice of whether to move closer to Europe, today we can finally reason about something different: no longer just how to get to Europe, but what we want to do once we’re there,” the PSD stresses, while reaffirming its support for the European path and acknowledging the work carried out by successive governments and by Foreign Secretary Luca Beccari in bringing the Agreement to signature.
The first issue concerns the economic system. The PSD highlights the weight of manufacturing, which accounts for around 40% of San Marino’s GDP, and points to greater integration with the single market as an opportunity to boost investment, innovation and competitiveness. According to the party, this process will need to be accompanied by structural reforms, starting with the introduction of VAT.
Particular attention is given to the banking and financial sector, which will need to gradually align with European rules. “The fifteen years of transition provided for by the Agreement must not become fifteen years of waiting, but rather an opportunity to accelerate the strengthening of our banks and offer citizens and businesses more modern and competitive services,” the PSD warns.
The opening of the European market will also create new opportunities for professionals, craftspeople and service companies, but it will bring greater competition too. To meet this challenge, the party considers it essential to invest in training and skills updating, so that San Marino businesses are not caught unprepared by the changes ahead.
Another central issue concerns young people who study and train abroad but often fail to find adequate opportunities to return to the Republic.
“We need to create the conditions for those skills to be valued, and to ensure that coming home doesn’t mean giving up on one’s ambitions,” the PSD argues, calling for policies capable of attracting qualified professionals and encouraging new economic activities.
Public administration will also need to change, through digitalisation, training and new skills. The implementation of the Agreement is presented as an opportunity to make public offices more efficient and to develop sectors that remain underused, such as EU project design, research and international cooperation.
Hence the call for long-term economic planning.
“The Agreement opens up an enormous market for us and gives us a completely different international standing, but it doesn’t tell us what kind of economy we should build. That choice is up to us,” the party states.
The proposed plan should identify the sectors worth investing in, the infrastructure required and the skills to be developed, involving businesses, trade unions, universities, schools and young people.
Growth, however, will also have to reckon with the challenges of everyday life. More businesses and new jobs will require answers on housing, transport, energy, healthcare and public services. For the PSD, GDP growth cannot be the sole yardstick for measuring the success of economic policy.
“For the PSD, development is not measured by GDP alone, but by the jobs it creates, the quality of incomes, the opportunities it offers to everyone, and its capacity to strengthen our system of social protection. We want a wealthier country, certainly, but above all a country where people live better,” the document states.
Finally, the party acknowledges the delays San Marino has accumulated, after years devoted chiefly to restoring economic stability and international credibility.
The Agreement with Europe is therefore presented as a starting point, not as a sufficient destination in itself. “For too long we have talked about what we could not do.
Now we are starting to talk about what we can do.
And above all, we are starting to do it,” the PSD concludes.
