Last year, as one of the first pledges of his third term as prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi promised to put the privatisation of Italy's maritime assets back on the agenda, according to a letter sent to delegates at meeting organised by owners association Confitarma. In response to Confitarma's complaints about heavy state subsidies for ferry operator Tirrenia, Berlusconi made it clear that Tirrenia's privatisation and the listing of state shipyard Fincantieri to consolidate its development and open it to stiff competition from Asian builders, would be the new government's top priorities. In practice, progress towards these two government goals has, so far, been glacial (see box).
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