MILAN, July 8, 2019 – Salini Impregilo is ready to seize opportunities offered by China’s Belt and Road Initiative – also known as the New Silk Road - that has seen massive investments in infrastructure to improve transport and commercial links between the European Union and Asia.

The projects that favour trade include railways, bridges, ports and roads, as well as those that guarantee the supply of energy and facilitate the movement of people.

It is an initiative that offers great growth potential for Italian companies in the infrastructure sector, which could benefit from the scale and competitive edge provided by Progetto Italia, the industrial operation proposed by Salini Impregilo.

Speaking at the "Belt & Road Initiative 2 – The New Silk Road" event in Milan, Paolo Romiti, Director Domestic and International Business Development, said the Group’s interest was natural given how it had already worked on projects that were a precursor to the initiative.

“With the (New) Silk Road, there will be a development of infrastructure that does not exist today,” he said. “We worked in Kazakhstan, in Turkey and we are interested in Poland,” he added. “We operate in the Middle East. The Gulf has witnessed a big expansion: first Qatar and now Saudi Arabia. In the Middle East, there are plans to create a megacity that will involve a lot of investment.”

Salini Impregilo has worked on various strategic infrastructure projects that have supported the development of economies in Asia. Among them are the Western Europe - Western China International Transit Corridor, a highway that follows the old Silk Road across Kazakhstan for 410 kilometres. There are also the Ertan and Xiaolangdi dams in China.