While, except for costs, the numbers are positive, the future expectations of entrepreneurs worsen due to geopolitical uncertainties. The main risks concern the tightness of supply chains, rising energy and raw material costs, and a new tariff escalation. Expectations thus turn negative for the main indicators. In industry, the balances of expectations between growth and decline are negative for production (-4.7%), turnover (-3.1%), foreign demand (-9.0%) and domestic demand (-11.4%). By contrast, the balance for employment remains positive at +2.9%. The worsening of expectations is even more marked in the craft sector, where negative balances exceed 20% for production, turnover and domestic demand. More contained, but still negative, is the expected dynamic for foreign demand and employment.
"The numbers for this first quarter remain positive," stressed Gian Domenico Auricchio, President of Unioncamere Lombardy, "confirming the resilience of our production system, but we cannot ignore the negative expectations of entrepreneurs, who are strongly concerned about the continuing global geopolitical tensions In such an uncertain scenario, it is absolutely vital that the institutions, the Chamber system, and all the stakeholders in the area remain united, acting as a common shield to support and protect our companies in the face of the challenges that await us. Today we need above all to support the competitiveness of companies by helping them to strengthen exports, the fundamental driving force of our economy, and to cope with the increase in energy costs and other production factors, helping companies to further develop skills and productivity'.
"Due to the uncertain global context," added Giuseppe Pasini President of Confindustria Lombardy, "2026 for companies is shaping up to be tough and full of unknowns. results, albeit within a framework of growth, show that the slowdown is underway. Uncertainty, wars and permanent crises are affecting commodity prices, especially energy commodities: entrepreneurs are concerned about the inflationary effects on the real economy and the excessive dependence on third parties for supply because it is now clear that, in the current conditions of geopolitical chaos and trade wars, those who control energy and raw materials control growth. With the price of oil for days now stably above 100 dollars/barrel and gas at around 50 euros/MWh, the situation is an emergency, and the Italia system has every reason to exceed the Stability Pact. Confindustria Lombardy calls for more courage from Italian and European decision-makers to quickly define solutions that go in the direction of a strategic autonomy that allows us to compete on equal terms in the new competitive scenario".
"We are holding out but it is not easy," said Guido Guidesi, Councillor for Economic Development of the Lombardy Region, "now either there is a radical change with respect to European constraints and the leading role of the territories or we really risk losing competitiveness. In all sectors, in all sectors there is unfair international competition, in all sectors we are seeing increasingly aggressive Chinese and non-European competitors who have fewer constraints and lower production costs. We are running out of time: either we change our approach or we will not hold up in the medium term. Defending jobs requires an institutional courage that I do not see in Brussels; a courage that Lombardy is calling for loudly and unanimously'.
"The main concerns of artisans," said Stefano Fugazza, President of Unione Artigiani Lombardia, "right now are certainly the soaring energy costs and raw material prices in this context of international crisis. In this spiral of unpredictable costs, with the exception of regional and state tenders, hyper depreciation and the meritorious action of the Confidi (credit guarantee consortia), the traditional credit system seems to be closing the taps to micro and small enterprises at this delicate time. Alongside all this, there remains the difficulty of finding a new workforce. The average age of the owners of our companies is increasingly high and there is a lack of generational change: together with the institutions and the educational world we must get around a table as soon as possible to present craftsmanship as a concrete, current and exciting opportunity to young people'.
