Immigrants are Positive Resource for Country
Zenit News Service
LORETO, AUG 1, 1999 (ZENIT) – In a video-message to the second meeting on immigration being held in Loreto, Antonio Fazio, governor of the Bank of Italy, emphasized the importance of increasing the birth rate and immigration to guarantee economic and social development.
It is urgent that the number of births increase, Professor Fazio insisted. At present, in Europe in general, and in Italy in particular, couples have an average of 1.3 children. “Unless couples return to having at least two children, in 20-30 years time the deficit of births will have repercussions on economic and social development.”
The director of the Bank of Italy explained that “a great number of the problems of Europe’s paralysis stem from the aging and decrease in number of the inhabitants,” a phenomenon that also spells “the aging of the mechanisms for economic development.” Instead, “we need a young population, and investment in its education and training, because knowledge leads to development,” Professor Fazio emphasized.
The second question addressed was immigration. The “United States, with a population that is younger than ours, has had a high development rate precisely because immigration was seen as a resource; the case is surprising and is being studied by economists.”
Referring to Italy, Professor Fazio said that “among us, however, the relation between the presence of foreigners and the total population is much lower, even lower than in France and Great Britain.”
Quoting Eurostat (the European Union’s statistical office), Professor Fazio pointed out that in 2025, 4 of the 5 regions with the oldest persons will be Italian, and Italy will not register among the 10 with the youngest population. Along with aging, there will be a fall in the number of working-age people.
Given the above, and the fact that 70% of official immigrants to Italy are between 25 and 39 years of age, professor Fazio said, “Why not think that, with a long-term policy and medium-long term strategy, this resource and wealth of vitality could be compatible with Italy’s development?”
©1999 Zenit News Service