MILAN, November 9, 2020 – “With the acquisition of Astaldi merger, the birth of the new Webuild Group inspires hope. It is also an acknowledgment that great things can be achieved even in times of difficulty, like the current one. Being able to propose thousands of jobs is the answer that Italy needs to hear today,” said Pietro Salini, chief executive of Webuild, in an interview on Sportello Italia, a programme on Radio 1 of the Italian state broadcaster Rai, a few days after Webuild’s acquisition of 65% of Astaldi to create an Italian leader in infrastructure.

It is a plan that means growth and employment, especially for young people. “In the next two years in Italy, we foresee the hiring of 5,000 people, young people whom we can teach a trade. We are making big investments for them, such as the master’s programme in the management of complex infrastructure projects at the university.”

But Italy needs a series of shock measures. It has to foresee what the models of production and consumer trends will be in the future. It needs to give concrete answers today. “(It needs to think about) a general maintenance plan for our country, which finds itself in a very fragile state,” said Salini. It needs measures that would have a ripple effect throughout the entire infrastructure sector. “In the five main projects in Italy, we are partners with nearly 5,000 Italian small- and medium-sized businesses. The government has done a lot to support families, so it now has to make an effort to relaunch employment in the south and the north,” he said. These measures can be taken immediately since the resources are already available. “The funds from the Recovery Fund will be available in the second half of 2021 but we should anticipate their impact and use other instruments that we have on hand, like funds that have been spent in last seven years - the FAS funds that we need to start using now,” he added.