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Fiat Group Automobiles has provided two Fiat
Fiorino vans converted into ambulances to
the relief effort in Haiti while Iveco has
supplied four Daily vans, along with
technical personnel. |
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Following the major
earthquake which has devastated Haiti, the Fiat Group has
acted immediately to help the local population, providing
equipment from across its divison as well as technical and
financial support totalling US$1 million.
In
close collaboration with the United Nations, the
International Red Cross and the Fondazione Francesca Rava
(the Italian arm of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos, which works
with disadvantaged children), Group companies responded
immediately, making equipment and manpower available in the
very first stage of the relief effort. CNH has offered five
pieces of construction equipment and - in collaboration with
Case Construction dealers in Haiti, and Iveco, New Holland
and Kobelco dealers in the Dominican Republic - pledged
support for the clean-up operation within 24 hours after the
quake. Fiat Group Automobiles has provided two Fiat Fiorino
ambulances and Iveco four Dailys, along with technical
personnel.
The
Group intends to offer a financial contribution of USD
250,000 and will remain in continuous contact with
organizations managing the relief effort to be able to
respond to future needs.
The
importance of TAV
Fiat has also
waded into the debate over the future roll-out of the
infrastructure of the Treno Alta Velocitô SpA (TAV), Italy's
high speed train network. In a written statement this week
Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne emphasises Fiat's support
for TAV. "Fiat has considered Italy's
high-speed rail network (TAV) to be a project of crucial
importance from the very beginning when, 20 years ago,
Umberto Agnelli got involved personally, chairing the first
committee organised to promote the initiative," says
Marchionne. "Today our view remains unchanged. This project
represents the greatest opportunity Italy has ever had to
modernize its infrastructure and lay the foundations of an
economic development which can be passed on to future
generations. It is essential to making our transportation
system more efficient and our country more competitive.
Abandoning TAV - either through inertia or lack of courage -
means not only giving up on an important project but also
being responsible for cancelling Italy from the European
map. Today we must choose between modernizing this nation or
condemning it to isolation. That choice needs to be made
urgently and with the full understanding that the future of
the entire nation, and not just its economic future, depends
on it."
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