The single manufacturing district of the North continues its path to strengthen the competitiveness of the production system and build a common position on national and European industrial policies. After the appointments in Milan and Turin, the five Regions – Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto – met today in Milan, on the occasion of the World Manufacturing Forum, for a third meeting which saw the involvement of the banking system and regional industrial representatives, with the aim of transforming the needs of companies into concrete proposals for industrial policies.
The five regional councilors for economic development were present: Vincenzo Colla (Emilia-Romagna), Alessio Piana (Liguria), Guido Guidesi (Lombardy), Andrea Tronzano (Piedmont) e Massimo Bitonci (Veneto).
The day was divided into two moments of discussion: the first with the regional and national representatives of the Italian Banking Association (ABI) and the second with the leaders of the regional Confindustrie, to share the main needs of the production system and identify common priorities and proposals to support the competitiveness of businesses.
For ABI they participated Alessandro Azzipresident of the Lombardy Regional Commission; Cristian Bersellipresident of the Emilia-Romagna regional commission; Stefano Cappellaripresident of the Piedmont Regional Commission; Sergio Bavapresident of the Veneto regional commission, e Gianluca Guaitaniformer president of the Liguria Regional Commission. Also present Gianfranco TorrieroDeputy General Director of the national ABI.
For Confindustria the regional presidents participated Giuseppe Pasini (Lombardy), Andrea Amalberto (Piedmont), Mario Gerini (Liguria) e Riccardo Fava (Emilia-Romagna). For Veneto he was present Carlo StilliGeneral Director of Confindustria Veneto.
Access to credit and industrial policies at the center of the discussion
The discussion with ABI focused on access to credit and the tools necessary to support business investments, with particular attention to small and medium-sized production companies which constitute a fundamental component of the manufacturing chains of the North.
The comparison made it possible to delve deeper into the main needs of the production system in view of the next national provisions on credit, with particular reference to the need to proceed with the reform of the Central Guarantee Fund, in order to ensure greater certainty and stability for businesses.
The importance of developing innovative credit support tools, as uniform and coordinated as possible between the Regions, also emerged, with particular attention to micro and small businesses, support for startups, capitalization processes and generational transition. Among the hypotheses to be further explored is the introduction of supply chain guarantee instruments, which enhance the solidity of the lead companies to facilitate access to credit for supplier companies.
In this perspective, the establishment of a joint technical table has been agreed between the five Regions and the territorial representations of ABI, with the aim of identifying, over the next three months, operational solutions and shared tools to facilitate access to credit, support investments and accompany the growth and competitiveness of the production system.
The subsequent meeting with the regional representatives of Confindustria made it possible to continue work on the common priorities of the industrial system, starting from the strengthening of production chains, support for investments, innovation and the need to create more favorable conditions for the competitiveness of businesses.
The comparison with the regional industrial and banking system represents a further step in the path of the five Regions, which together contribute to over half of the national GDP. The objective is to overcome the fragmentation of interventions and build a common position capable of influencing industrial policy choices.
New areas of collaboration and next appointment in Verona
During the day, the five Regions also agreed to expand their common work to two new strategic areas: the internationalization of companies and the attraction of investments.
On the first front, the objective is to develop a shared project that involves the companies of the five Regions on a jointly identified production chain and foreign market. On the second, the desire to define a pact for attracting investments was shared, systematizing the skills, tools and opportunities of the different territories.
The next meeting of the Control Room is scheduled for 9 December at Veronafierewhere the discussion will continue with further representatives of the economic and production system, through meetings dedicated to the stakeholders who have requested dialogue with the five Regions.