Naples: a business plan to attract high-impact investment
An analysis by Vittorio Genna, President, at the Annual General Meeting of the Naples Industrialists’ Association
“We need a multi-year industrial plan aimed at attracting investment in the manufacturing sector to Southern Italy and Naples, and at bringing back young people who have left the region.” This is a highly condensed summary of Vittorio Genna’s lengthy report delivered at the first annual general meeting of the Naples Industrialists’ Union. Those in attendance included, amongst others, the president of Confindustria, Emanuele Orsini; the Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Antonio Tajani; the president of the Campania Region, Roberto Fico; and the mayor of Naples, Gaetano Manfredi.
The Assembly observed a minute’s silence in memory of Margherita Perretti, president of the Basilicata Small Industry Association.
“Back to Growth” is the title of the event, through which Neapolitan industrialists are calling on institutions at all levels to work together in synergy in order to take a leap forward. “The South isn’t starting from scratch,” Genna clarified. “In recent years, it has grown at a rate higher than the national average. But in the absence of cohesion policies, these trends could be reversed. Svimez forecasts growth of just 0.4 per cent in the South and 0.5 per cent in the Centre-North by 2027.”
We are not starting from scratch, but there is still a long way to go. Genna praises the country’s political stability and international reputation. But he then emphasises: ‘As well as pressing Brussels, it is important that the Government promotes a national industrial policy suited to the challenges that lie ahead. With this in mind, it is strategic to focus on the South – an area with high growth potential – as part of a wider effort to revitalise the entire Italia economy.’ He continues: ‘We must clear up any misunderstandings: the South cannot be confined to the role of a national energy hub. The South needs data centres, but neither these facilities nor wind turbines create jobs, except to a limited extent. In the South, the conditions must be created to expand the manufacturing sector’, he emphasised. For this reason, he continued, “we are calling on the Government to promote investment in the South that has a significant impact on employment, capable of creating skilled and manufacturing jobs for both white-collar and blue-collar workers, including in strategic areas such as the strengthening of national defence.”
Attracting investment. “The ZES Unica model,” said Confindustria President Orsini, “is widely recognised as valuable. Over 1,400 applications, more than 9 billion in new investment and 25,000 jobs. I hope there are no further plans to change measures that are working well.” Minister Tajani also spoke at length about the ZES; amongst other things, yesterday he presented new Neapolis 2500 programmes aimed at bringing Neapolitan culture to the world.
