Brenner motorway: Cattoni, we will evaluate 1 billion green bond hypothesis

One of the Trento Festival of Economics' appointments is dedicated to the theme ('Sistema Italia, bene rifugio contro i rischi globali?'), with a specific focus on tourism, agrifood and infrastructure. And if for the latter,' recalls Autobrennero CEO Diego Cattoni, 'Italy was the leader in Europe until the 1970s, with 6,000 kilometres of motorways, since then development has come to a standstill, with other EU countries that have instead made enormous strides forward.

'Without infrastructure,' he explains, 'there is no growth and unfortunately Italy has been blocked for a long time by the many 'no' fronts. Yet mobility is a great multiplier of development, a sector in which one euro invested generates four euros of spin-off for the entire economy. We need mobility and this is objectively a critical issue for us, because compared to other countries we are lagging behind. That is why it must be clearly stated that, net of other interventions, new motorways must be built'.

Cattoni, however, calls for a move away from extemporaneous action linked to individual projects, however important, such as the Brenner base tunnel or the Strait Bridge. Important works, however, which must be accompanied by a broader vision.

"We must act as Italy did in the 1950s, drawing the needs of the future and setting up a global system plan. It is not resources that are lacking, because the grantor-concessionaire model, which the whole world has copied from us, allows us to entrust private individuals and the market with finding the funds. A model that, however, due to over-regulation is now jammed, as our case shows, with a concession that has now expired for 10 years, an impasse that is holding back the necessary investments'.

The great international turning points in logistics,' Cattoni explains, 'also have repercussions for our country, as witnessed by the doubling of the Suez Canal, which is also shifting additional traffic to Italian ports. "That is why we must relaunch intermodality and rail transport as much as possible," he explains, "because otherwise our motorways will burst, affected by additional heavy vehicle traffic that they will not be able to handle, starting with the Autobrennero. And it is no coincidence that we are working hard on this issue, making agreements with ports as well, precisely to prevent ship loads from being transferred entirely to road".

The country's strong point in DLA Piper's analysis is certainly tourism, as confirmed by the sector's operators. 'We are still investing in Italy,' explains Otmar Micaeler, CEO of Kalkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group, 30 hotels worldwide, 'not least because Italy's heritage represents incredible value. And we don't really have to invent anything, because we have sea, mountains and cities: for tourism, Italy is the museum of the world. A limitation? If I think of our investments I would undoubtedly say bureaucracy'.

Another asset is agrifood, an area in which new technologies also come into play. "We provide contributions to agricultural operators," explains Agea's head of finance and budget, "and in our strategic plan there is now the valorisation of the enormous existing wealth of information, consolidating data also in order to better direct agricultural policies.