“Genoa the image of a country resuming activity with transparency and a virtuous public-private collaboration on infrastructure”

Genoa, October 12, 2021 – Pietro Salini, Chief Executive of Webuild, has received honorary citizenship of Genoa in acknowledgement of the Group’s firm commitment to the city and the Liguria region.

Genoa Mayor Marco Bucci said the gesture was recognition of the role played by Webuild in the construction of the Genova San Giorgio Bridge, a project that has come to represent the country’s revival. The bridge has also become an example of the construction of high-quality environmentally sustainable projects in record time. Best known as the Genoa Model, it consists of a collaborative approach between the public and private sectors, which the Group is applying to some of the 27 infrastructure projects currently under construction in Italy with the involvement of a supply chain of 7,000 businesses.

“It is with great pride that I receive this honorary citizenship, and I want to share it virtually with all those who made the construction of the Genoa Bridge possible,” Salini said. “Genoa is the birthplace of Christopher Columbus, a great innovator who had the courage to face enormous challenges. Today the city also represents a way of getting things done, and the relaunch of infrastructure. The city and the rest of the Liguria region are experiencing a moment of great effervescence with the relaunching of the economy and employment, with a new approach of transparency and of collaboration involving public institutions, companies, universities, and the surrounding area. This recognition confirms that the Group together with all the other players behind the Genoa Bridge served as a catalyst for a city that had suffered so much. Infrastructure can have an important role in relaunching Italy’s economy to guarantee a future for our young people. We want to maintain activity in this region not only through our projects but through a broader collaboration with the region.”

“The Terzo Valico dei Giovi - Genoa Junction project alone represents the biggest construction site in Italy as regards the supply chain” continued Salini. “We are talking about 5,000 direct and indirect workers and more than 2,300 suppliers and subcontractors that – along with Webuild - are putting their expertise and highest levels of know-how at the service of Italy. These public works are in line with the message that we want to give: that infrastructure must be innovative, technological, reliable, transparent, an engine for recovery, a value aggregator for the supply chain and a creator of opportunities for a more profound growth. They serve as an important link that we want to build to bring Genoa and Milan closer together, whilst focusing on the safety of workers and the infrastructure itself.”

The infrastructure projects under construction are only a part of the strong bond between Webuild and Genoa. The Group has increased its collaboration with the University of Genoa with whom it has created the UniWeLab, a laboratory and model for open innovation. It is the Group’s latest initiative in favour of young people. Others include bursaries, recruitment, training and involvement on its construction sites across the globe as the Group partners with universities in Italy and abroad.  

Webuild is a global leader in the sector of sustainable infrastructure active in 50 countries with a track record that includes approximately 80,300 kilometres of roads and highways, as well as 946 kilometres of bridges and viaducts. Some of its completed projects that have become iconic for their innovation include the skytrain bridge and viaduct for Sydney Metro Northwest in Australia and the Third Bridge over the Bosphorus in Turkey.