From Faw to Goldoni tractors, the unsuccessful attempts of the Chinese in Italy

From Faw to Goldoni tractors, the unsuccessful attempts of the Chinese in Italy


It seems like half a century has passed, not five years, since Emilia-Romagna institutions and companies extended golden bridges to China, certain that opening up to Chinese capital and goods would be the driving force behind exponential growth in volumes and a climb in global ranking. Those were the years of the first direct flights from Bologna to the economic-financial capitals of the land of Mao (soon aborted), of the agreements for the recognition of the agri-food excellences of the food valley and of the rebirth of historical brands of the territory, such as Goldoni in tractors and Ferretti in yachts, precisely by Chinese hands. However, the history of the last few years has also taught the hard-working and optimistic people of Emilia-Romagna not to trust Beijing's promises too much, which is why today we look warily at the investment of Faw, the big car maker from Jilin who, through a newco managed by the American financier Jonathan Krane, promises from 2020 the arrival of one billion euros to build the megafactory of luxury electric and hybrid supercars, "designed & made in motor valley" in Reggio Emilia.

Biblical times and stalls

The continuous postponement of dates and the financial opacity behind the corporate boxes (the operation belongs to Silk Sports Car Company, which absorbed the initial Silk EV vehicle and is controlled by an Irish company of the same name controlled 85% by Krane and of which Faw has only 15% and it seems there are no lenders and investors to advance the money to keep the announced commitments) are an alarm bell that has become almost deafening in the region. Because apart from the happy case of Ferretti, the wounds related to the liquidation of Goldoni by the Chinese number one in agricultural machinery, the Lovol Arbos group, are still open after just three years of management (2015-2018): just the time for the Chinese to acquire the know-how and projects of the age-old brand from Migliarina di Carpi, scrap the three-year plan which envisaged the construction of the largest R&D center for open field tractors in Europe and leave 220 employees on the loose.

The oil&gas projects in Ravenna

Just a couple of months ago there was another deja-vu burning 150 kilometers away from the motor valley: in Ravenna in 2018 the top management of the Chinese shipbuilding giant China Merchants Group presented themselves which, having occupied the symbolic place of the Romagna industry - the offices of the Ferruzzi empire and Raul Gardini - had announced their intention to make the Byzantine capital their European naval engineering and oil&gas hub, with the immediate hiring of about fifty people, mostly engineers , an initial investment of 10 million euros and the promise of exponential growth, likely for a state giant that is the protagonist of the "Belt and Road Initiative", as well as a world leader in the construction of ships and offshore platforms and which manages over 50 ports in 20 countries . The 52 employees of CMIT-Europe (the European subsidiary of the holding company) were all fired on the spot, without too many explanations and with a negligible severance pay. Just as Lovol Arbos took the books to court without bothering to respect the institutional crisis tables in the region. The fact that now even Silk-Faw is mocking the commitments officially made with the Bonaccini council certainly does not reassure.

Yet the impression is that doing more harm today in the motor valley is the shattering of the illusion that one can rely on foreign venture captains to hook up to the new global frontiers of innovation and trigger development and employment on a large scale: the promises of Faw and Krane have not compromised public money, because neither the Region nor the Municipality of Reggio Emilia have yet disbursed a cent of the 4.5 million euros which, each, they have pledged between aid for industrialization and de-contributions. All we have to do is wait to see if the project will find finances and concreteness or if with the departure of Katia Bassi, the reassuring Italian face of showman Krane, she will also take away the Reggio Emilia dream of becoming the protagonist of the new industrial era of supercars greens.



Source link