Italy needs a 20-year plan to guide its industrial development with investments in the South.

Infrastructure can create 100,000 jobs but training, reskilling programmes needed for new careers.

ROME, May 5, 2022 – “The PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) is an important initiative, but we have to get out of the mindset of government hand-outs and consider it as part of what the country has to put forward to develop and maintain the infrastructure that Italy needs in a sustainable way” said Pietro Salini, Chief Executive of Webuild at the Molto Economia webinar: “Nuovi scenari economici globali: le sfide da superare per l’#Italia2030 (New Global Economic Scenarios: the Challenges to Overcome for #Italia2030)”, a webinar hosted by Il Messaggero, an Italian newspaper. “There are €400 billion to spend in total, from the PNRR, public resources and development funds. But what is needed is coherent determination at the national level to think, plan and start public works within the allocated timeframe. The repercussions of the war, which we are coming to understand now, will be long-lasting. They will continue to have an impact on costs and the availability of raw materials. We need to concentrate the resources that are available on sustainable projects that are actually feasible, especially in the south (of Italy), a region rich in talent with a great desire to move forward. It is important that the south does not miss this train, the PNRR.” The webinar at which Salini spoke was organised to encourage a discussion between business and public institutions on the challenges and obstacles of executing the PNRR in light of the latest global scenarios.

Regarding prices, Salini said: “Based on what we have come to understand, the DL Aiuti (legislative decree Aiuti) recently presented by the government addresses issues raised by the construction sector, even though it will not solve everything. But the government is giving a lot of attention to these issues. Long-lasting solutions to high prices that are now being faced by companies are needed. We need to consider various possibilities and to evaluate what has already been adopted overseas and in the rest of Europe. In this way we can insert suitable  mechanisms in contracts that would automatically adjust prices in a structured rather than incidental way.”

“Today, Italy must take a political position so that all the decisions to be made point towards the model of the country that what we want by 2030 and 2040. But it must be clear that whatever the position is taken, it must be based on an integrated and working infrastructure system. The construction sites of today are tomorrow’s infrastructure. Just like our current infrastructure, if it is maintained properly, it will be our infrastructure heritage of tomorrow. The experience of the Genova San Giorgio bridge shows how the upkeep of Italian infrastructure, most of which was built just after the war, should not be extraordinary but ordinary. The country must invest in the safety of its people through preventive measures.

“Let me finish by talking about two themes that I consider fundamental for a development strategy for the country and its infrastructure: safety and the training of the resources that are need for this plan. This is a sector in which the PNRR can create jobs for approximately 100,000 people, whether they are specialised or not. This means taking big measures for a sector that for the last decade has sadly witnessed the departure of 800,000 people. Training is part of work safety that needs to involve everyone, with a proactive approach with the adoption of adequate procedures and a widely adopted safety culture. We need to invest in safety continuously and in an adequate way – as is done in rest of the world. The safety of people cannot be taken for granted.”

 

Watch Pietro Salini's webinar speech