Confindustria Sicilia: «Decontribution key measure for the relaunch of the South»

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The limits of the Sicilian infrastructures, which continue to weigh down the island making it unattractive for new investments. The great potential of the bridge over the Strait which, for Sicilian companies, represents a turning point. The funds, which exist and must be spent quickly and prudently, looking at the structural situation which does not only concern roads, motorways and railways but also the so-called intangible infrastructures. Three points and three interpretations developed with different ways and points of view during the conference organized by Confindustria Sicilia in Palermo led by Alessandro Albanese attended by the minister Minister for European affairs for cohesion policies and for the Pnrr Raffaele Fitto , the regional councilor for Infrastructures Alessandro Aricò and the entrepreneurs Sergio Fontana (president of Confindustria Puglia), Gianluca Costanzo (president of the young entrepreneurs of Confindustria Sicilia).

Albanian: “Pnrr funds help businesses”

«The main infrastructure we must have is that of rules and respect for the rules. Certainty of times, of law, of commercial relations: the reform of justice in this case was born but born badly. Then there is public administration reform: without an efficient public administration we can do nothing. Politics can do little if it doesn’t have the right people in the right place. Retraining personnel and hiring new ones – says Alessandro Albanese -. We have the problem of spending resources. The problem of how and where to spend them and above all the times that are not biblical. South tax relief very important but the time period is very short and does not allow companies to make plans. We could also cut all subsidies but if an important operation is carried out on labor costs, an important operation is carried out for the whole country. What we hope (perhaps from 30 to 50%) will see a long-lasting structural element thinking that this measure can last at least until 2030. Cut all the aids you want but give us a certain resource in terms of labor costs. The other attention is to dedicate an important part of the Pnrr Funds to the company so that it can make important investments. Last thing about the bridge: we have always been Si Ponte but the bridge must be an infrastructure for all of Italy. The bridge must be the great driving force».

Political stability and long-term projects

One element underlined was that of political stability and long-term programs: «Looking over the last few years, we have witnessed various governments, crises, a pandemic, war – said Gianluca Costanzo, President of Young Entrepreneurs of Confindustria Sicily –. However, I want to look to the future with optimism. If we talk about Pnrr we talk about Next Generation, it is a great opportunity, one and only one. We must make a pact of trust and courage between the public administration and companies. There is no shortage of resources and we are aware of it. The biggest infrastructures in which to invest are young people and their training».

Fitto: «The pulverization of spending produces nothing»

For Minister Fitto, «with these resources we have a duty to transform persistent problems, especially infrastructural problems. We have always found ourselves faced with a pulverization of public spending that produces nothing. We are making an evaluation of the programming of the 2014-2020 funds, and we are talking about resources equal to 126 billion. The Pnrr Plan closes its doors in 2026. Today’s challenge counts different times and almost double the resources. It is necessary to build a system of incentives on the energy efficiency front, to reduce consumption and improve the competitiveness of businesses. We need to find changes that will sustain our entrepreneurial industrial system; you need to act flexibly. We must take responsibility for admitting certain truths, setting the right priorities. We have to let the facts speak for themselves.”

The key moment for Sicily

There is the awareness that for Sicily it is a key moment: «It is an important moment to better understand the future of Sicily – Alessandro Aricò -. We talk about infrastructure, issues related to the world of industry and tourism. There has been intense confrontation in recent days to discuss the conditions of the railway lines and the continuous delays. We must think of our region not as an appendage of the peninsula, but as an island. The difficulties are many, and our peninsularity costs us 6 billion a year. We have a road plan, we are working to improve an airport network, speed up connections between airports, we are working to make Sicily live like an island. We are working hard on a whole series of projects for the region, the real assets of which are human capital. It is important to be aware of having a government close to the Italians».