Finance, guarantees, training and skills development, as essential elements for italy's recovery 

Marsala, September 24, 2021 - "The PNRR is an extensive plan that will greatly impact Italy thanks also to the Italian government's efforts in implementing the programme, where accompanied by implementation measures, and the use of all the available resources, besides those provided by the PNRR. More extensive structural interventions are also needed to make the recovery stable and lasting. This applies to all sectors that through export face competition on the global markets, as well as to Italy's construction sector, affected by a serious structural pre-pandemic crisis. To rebuild the country from North to South, we must speed-up the conditions that allow the start-up of construction sites that carry out the works, also eliminating the bottlenecks that slow down the recovery, while investing, and spending the available funds immediately. We must intervene on the system of guarantees, providing finances to companies, so that they can operate competitively on the market, with the correct advances and a healthy system that allows for price revisions in contracts, and to compensate for the sharp increase in the cost of the raw materials.".

This is what Webuild CEO Pietro Salini said during the three days of the "Stati Generali dell'Export 2021" event, organized by the Italian Export Forum with the patronage of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation: An opportunity for discussion for the sector operators, institutions and companies, on the state of Italian exports, and on the role of infrastructure for Italy's growth.  

“We need to start from the South, a region of great resources and great talents, to engage Italy's economic recovery. "The South greatly needs new infrastructure. Works can be done well and economically with local companies and in compliance with regulations thereby creating a future for young people there, providing them with adequate training. This will allow them to stay where they are instead of going elsewhere causing these regions to be increasingly poor in terms of a ruling class. “Together with our entire supply chain of small and medium-sized companies that have been working with us for years we are putting ourselves at the disposal of  the system, ready as we are to quickly implement the other strategic works that still need to be launched in the south of Italy. We are speaking of an Italian supply chain of 7,000 direct suppliers, of which over 1,700 involved in 15 major projects in the South, which represents an excellence in the construction sector”. 

"We need to manage the scarcity of human resources currently being experienced since such massive investments have not been made since the 90s. To support the recovery it is important that technical and university training is at the heart of Italy's development strategies", continued Salini. "Webuild is speeding-up the awarding of scholarships, our collaboration with the universities, our company internships. And we are also planning to launch professional training initiatives. Those who train with us also find job opportunities in many foreign countries where we export our know-how, for example the high-speed railway projects in Texas, or one of the largest hydroelectric plants in Australia (Snowy), and the Grand Paris Express metro in Paris.

Webuild is now present in over 50 countries globally, with a project backlog mainly distributed in Italy (44%), North America (10%), Australia (9%) and Europe (9%). Now present in over 50 countries globally, the Group leads the sustainable mobility sector, with a track record that includes the construction of over 13,600 km of railways and subways, and approximately 80,300 kilometres of roads and motorways. In southern Italy the Group already works on ten active construction sites. Another five are about to become operational, involving 11,000 people including direct and indirect workers, as well as people employed through indirect activities.