Monti Praises Foreign Investment as Unions Criticize McDonald’s

Prime Minister Mario Monti said his country should be more open to investment by foreigners after labor leaders criticized McDonald’s Corp. for its expansion plans in Italy.

“In recent weeks we have seen a rebirth of arguments against multinationals that invest in Italy,” Monti said today at a conference in Rome. “In my opinion you have to look at these investments with more openness. Foreign multinationals don’t just offer low-quality jobs. They don’t in and of themselves remove opportunities from the territory, and I don’t believe that by nature they bring worse working conditions.”

Monti didn’t cite McDonald’s or other companies, and didn’t comment to reporters after his speech.

To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Davis in Rome at abdavis@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tim Quinson at tquinson@bloomberg.net