Cultural change required to regulate the sector with a shared focus of all those involved with regard to building works and not just on single procedures

Milan, September 25, 2023 – "The works that Webuild is building in Italy and worldwide are the result of a virtuous supply chain system that must become increasingly stronger to build the infrastructural projects of the future. We must not work today just as single companies but create virtuous systems of skills and resources with the entire production chain. The Webuild Group is constructing 31 projects in Italy thanks to great teamwork with companies of the sector part of the "Made in Italy" that wins, with 10,500 companies involved since works began in the Group's Italian construction sites. If we wish to increase the competitiveness in a sector that is increasingly more demanding on a global scale, we must make use of an integrated premium-supply chain model based on a private-private partnership led by large contractors”. “With this integrated model the Group has increased its revenue from 2 to 10 billion euros, in a context where safety, innovation, sustainability and training are evermore central topics. Greater dimensions and investment capacity for companies that can be reached are required, bringing skills together”.

This is what Webuild Chief Executive Officer Pietro Salini said during the Assemblea Generale di Assimpredil ANCE meeting, an opportunity to discuss the global economic scenario with, among others, the Italian Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Matteo Salvini, the Undersecretary of the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers Alessandro Morelli, the Chairperson of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana, the Mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala, and the Chairperson of Assimpredil Ance Regina De Albertis. 

Salini highlighted that the construction sector is currently facing an epochal change. “The new investment policy regarding Italian infrastructure represents an unparalleled opportunity for laying the foundations for a long-term competitive growth of the sector, also to support a new execution culture that focuses not just on processes, but also on creating and delivering works to citizens. We now have the chance to modernize Italy with large investments for roads, bridges, and water supply plants, but also, schools and hospitals. It is therefore our duty to take advantage of this and grow, while also creating more jobs and providing a future for companies and the young.  Safety, innovation, and training are the 3 pillars that will create a successful future for our sector. During the 2020-2022 three-year period the Group, just with regard to training, provided 1 million training hours, benefiting its personnel and also the supply chain's. Almost 700 thousand of these hours focused on safety. Still, these numbers are only sustainable through a systemic approach".

 “The construction market is booming in Italy and globally", continued Salini. "We are adopting increasingly selective criteria when choosing our projects, but in order to continue to grow we need new specialised personnel to join our team. And this is why Italy must invest in professional institutes. As a large company Webuild is active on more than one training front: from its "Scuola di Mestieri" (Trade School), a professional training path that merges theory and real-life experience in a construction site alongside the Group's managers – even making use of new immersive training methods of workers with 3D virtual reality simulators – to our managerial training programmes, scholarships, and talent attraction for the young. The Group has 85,000 people worldwide and just in Italy for the next 2024-2026 three-year period we will need approximately 10,000 additional people” concluded Salini. 

The Webuild Group is currently working on 31 infrastructure projects in Italy like the M4 metro line in Milan, the Terzo Valico dei Giovi-Genoa Junction, the high-capacity railway lines in Sicily, with over 16,300 both directly and indirectly hired workers distributed on the national territory..