GENOA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th October, 2020) The Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) represents a great opportunity for the Italian businesses, but the collaboration that had already started to grow was halted by the coronavirus pandemic, Vice President of Confindustria (Confederation of Italian Industry) Barbara Beltrame told Sputnik in an interview.
Last week, the 13th Eurasian Economic Forum, aiming at fostering economic and geopolitical ties between Italy and the EAEU countries � Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan � took place in Verona.
"The countries of the Eurasian Economic Union represent a great business opportunity, as in the pre-COVID phase, our 'Made in Italy' products, from machinery to the fashion system, showed growth in wide areas. The figures from the first six months of 2020 show instead a sharp decline in our trade with all five EAEU countries," Beltrame said.
For a country like Italy, depending on exports by one third of its GDP, the negative effects of lockdowns and other anti-COVID measures have been particularly devastating, she noted.
Confindustria estimates that there will be a 14.3 percent decline in Italian exports in 2020 and a rise of around 11 percent in 2021.
"However, the new wave of infections is of great concern and it is necessary to act decisively to avoid further company closures at the same time protecting the health of workers," Beltrame said.
"Making an estimate of when we will return to pre-Covid levels is very difficult at this stage. It will depend on the extent of the pandemic in the coming months," she continued.
Since early October, the daily rise of COVID-19 infections in Italy is hitting records, having already surpassed 21,000 cases per day. Some Italian regions have introduced a curfew.
