Zero kilometres currency to help the economy: Busto looks towards Sardex

Would it be possible that after Sardex, Bustex will start? A complementary currency has arrived today in Busto Arsizio, precisely in Mayor Gigi Farioli’s office with the appearance of the Sardinian Franco Contu, one of the founders of the alternative monetary circuit, which is spreading through the island.

Sardex.net collects in its circuit more than 400 companies that exchange products and services, paying for them with a nonexistent currency, but, moreover, without using Euros (becoming rarer) and succeeding in limiting the necessity to enter banks (more and more unwilling to give credit to enterprises). Farioli announced the hypothesis to bring Sardex experience to Busto shortly before the holidays and today, in front of the Sardinian representative, he has convened exponents of New Tex and of the Distretto del commercio (commerce district) for a briefing, with the purpose of testing the reaction of interested potential operators.

During the whole of the morning, in a heated meeting, Franco Contu explained how the commercial credit circuit works. It has been operational for more than three years and it has been recognised by all the university and institutional experts as an unavoidable reference point of concrete experiences. Complementary currency is part of the tools that, also in European legislation, have been identified as tools to concretely favour industry, craftsmanship and commerce operators, moreover in a period of cash flow problems. It also offers a series of opportunities to public administration in order to enter a virtuous circuit to support economy and territory. The Lombardy Region itself, also thanks to Bocconi University professors Amato and Fantacci’s collaboration, is finishing the scientific financial statement about this procedure.

During the briefing, which followed the meeting with the Mayor and some of his coworkers and Sandex founder, the participants focused on opportunity and critical aspects that in these years Sardex experience allowed and/or got over. The perspectives are interesting, not only for the revival of work and of supply chain and district economy, but also for the possible opportunities to favour suppliers and public administration customers, who are often stopped or given trouble by mean conditions of Stability Pact.

Since the interesting comparison exit has been valued, it has been decided to organise, thanks to Mr Contu’s availability, a workshop for operators, enterprises, public administrators, youth and university worlds by this September or, at the latest, by the first weeks of October.

Academics, witnesses of experiences that are already active in Italy and in Europe and regional and European representatives will take part in this meeting. During the afternoon, in the municipal building in the meeting room took place the third and final meeting of an initiative of Lombardy Region, Ministero della Ricerca (ministry of university and of scientific and technological research) and Unioncamere that, thanks to Innovhub, specific agency of regional Unioncamere innovation, collects many Lombardy textile enterprises and University research centres and not for a more and more winning competition in textile area and aiming at creating real clusters, which strive for bringing more and more innovation and research inside small and medium Lombardy enterprises. The Mayor is very proud of the choice made by Region, Innovhub and Ministry: it is not only a logistic choice, which recognises Busto Arsizio and to its council a leading role in innovation policies with particular attention to textile world.