Piedmont attraction, the future speaks tech and aerospace

IlSole24Ore-Radiocor - In the long term, Piedmont remains a manufacturing region but is increasingly looking to innovation. This is the image drawn by The European House - Ambrosetti's Strategic Study 'Attrazione Piemonte', a photograph of a quarter of a century of the economy of a region that has been profoundly transformed since 2000.

Piedmont in third place, and among only six Italian regions, where the incidence of manufacturing has increased over the last 15 years with +1.2% (Italy -0.6%). In spite of the car crisis that has been felt repeatedly. So much so that in the aftermath of the pandemic stop, it gained fourth place among Italian regions for manufacturing added value per company, just below Lombardy. A race that sees Piedmont having the highest national growth rate in manufacturing exports in 2023 among the central-northern regions at +8.9%, in a national panorama that is slowing down, with many minus signs and with Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna stopping at +0.6% and +0.8% respectively.

The identity card of a changing region can be summed up in figures: 332 thousand companies (7.3% of the national total); 1.4 million employees (7.8% of the national total); GDP in 2022 at 134 billion (7.6% of the national total); 63 billion in exports (10.7% of the national total) and on the podium of exporting regions in 34 different categories. A very respectable medal table, with 6 gold, 13 silver and 15 bronze medals. First for car parts and accessories, grain processing products, some food products, textile fibre yarns, TV and film products, music publishing and sound recording media.

This is a sign of growth that smacks of tradition, from cars to wine and good food, and at the same time of innovation. Piedmont is the fourth region for exports of the food industry, with 8.3 billion in 2023, and, together, first for exports of the aerospace sector, 28.6% of the national total in 2023 with a growth of +13.6% compared to 2019. It is the second region in Italy for growth in high-tech sectors. Employment in the high-tech sectors grew by +0.5% against the national average of 0.3% and it is the first large region for growth in patents per inhabitant, 52% of the Italian average. New sectors and willingness to invest It has the second highest incidence of fixed investments on GDP and the third highest growth rate, according to 'Attrazione Piemonte' surveys. Investments that are not only Italian, given that after Lombardy, this is where multinationals find their home: 988 companies, 87,000 employees, 260 dossiers opened for investments amounting to 5.6 billion.

The data that emerges also photographs a pandemic crisis overcome with flying colours. It improves in the THEA ranges for 5 out of 10 indicators for competitiveness, first and foremost manufacturing exports; 7 out of 10 indicators for innovative capacity and talent; it tops out with 7 out of 7 indicators for infrastructure, networks and connectivity; in 5 out of 8 indicators for social and environmental sustainability including hospital beds, separate waste collection rate, wastewater treatment plants; in 4 out of 7 indicators for culture, tourism and lifestyles including PDO and PGI products and foreign tourist presence. Last but not least, Piedmont is the leader, together with Friuli-Venezia Giulia, for the efficiency of the judicial system with 218 average days for legal proceedings in ordinary courts, half the Italian average of 433 days.