Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, Minister of Infrastructure for the 2024 Assizes of Assolombarda’s Pavia headquarters, entitled ‘Your Next Pavia’, arrived shortly after 5pm at Palazzo Esposizioni.
The Pavia Assizes are a moment of sharing, reflection and comparison between the economic, social and institutional actors of the territory. The occasion was the updating of the Strategic Plan for the territory, launched 4 years ago by Assolombarda which collects not only the progress and critical issues of the local construction sites, but also the economic analysis and an in-depth and detailed picture of the supply chain footwear made by the Assolombarda Study Center.
The commissioner of the Chamber of Commerce Giovanni Merlino will do the honors: «In the province of Pavia the wealth created is equal to 13 billion and has grown by 5.7%: less than Lombardy, than Italy. We must create wealth not from income, but from professional and productive work.” A mention also of the merger of the Chamber of Commerce with Cremona and Mantua: «Last year we invested 4.6 million euros, for now 5 million and will continue to grow. The future will be different, with the merger we will no longer be autonomous: however, we must ensure that the local resources are allocated here and not elsewhere.”
The president of Assolombarda Alessandro Spada opened the proceedings by reiterating the three central themes for industrialists: «The centrality of Europe, energy and infrastructure. Our territory has a very strong DNA of integration, Brussels is the most relevant place for industrial policies: in this reality we have developed our industry. What is certain is that some European policies need to be corrected, such as those on environmental sustainability, packaging and cars. We are for the ecological transition, but every transition needs time to develop and respect for the industry: if the transformations are radical, major investments are needed from Europe. Furthermore, we believe that the challenge between technologies leads to true evolution and therefore it is not correct to give preference to just one of them, for example electric in the energy field. Everyone must be able to compete.” Finally, Spada explained, “a unitary industrial strategy is missing”.
On energy, Spada confirmed the industrialists’ position on nuclear power: «Nuclear today is clean and the only source of energy that can offer a constant supply: for this reason we are absolutely in favour. Politics, institutions and education must work together to promote this clean nuclear power, which produces little waste and allows us to offer a constant supply of energy, which is fundamental for our country. Let’s not forget that over our heads there are 130 very old nuclear power plants: there is a problem in this sense, but we need nuclear power to have energy at competitive prices.”
The infrastructures
During the event, the topic of infrastructure was also explored in depth, with the president of Assolombarda and the Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Transport, Matteo Salvini. For Assolombarda, infrastructure is one of the strategic hubs that slows down a solid recovery and a sure start towards a path of territorial rebalancing, fundamental for the economic growth of the Pavia area.
«We have always been convinced that infrastructures are central to the full competitiveness of a territory like the Pavia area which expresses innovation and industrial excellence – declared Alessandro Spada, president of Assolombarda -. With this awareness, we greatly appreciated that, with the commissioner’s choice, the Vigevano – Malpensa highway obtained the financing of sections A and C. A fundamental infrastructure so that Vigevano and Lomellina no longer suffer from isolation which has serious negative effects on the district economy. At the same time we certainly appreciate the inclusion of the new Becca Bridge in the ANAS program contract. We now ask that the construction of this work be financed as soon as possible. We also believe that it is crucial for the relaunch of the territory that the resources be quickly found for the quadrupling of the entire Milan-Pavia-Tortona line along the Rhine-Alpine Corridor, strategic for connections with the port of Genoa and that it be doubled the railway line between Milan and Mortara – which still lacks a definitive project and related financing. And, furthermore, that new solutions are found in place of the motorway section between Broni and Stroppiana. These are priorities for us that we shared with Minister Matteo Salvini because infrastructural connections are both a lever of competitiveness but also of economic security and strategic autonomy.”
Deputy Prime Minister Salvini
The beginning of Prime Minister Salvini’s speech is not the most encouraging: «With everything I allocated over the weekend for Bergamo, Brescia, Cremona and Mantua I have to see what I have left over for Pavia». But the applause comes when he talks about the merging of the Chambers of Commerce: «I won’t go into the merits of the merging of chambers of commerce from economically very different territories, but I can’t spend time dealing with what hasn’t happened». And he also talks about a provincial body: «There must be an intermediate body between a small municipality in Lomellina and the Region, I believe that the reintroduction of the Province or in any case of an intermediate body is fundamental». Then he moves on to the administration: «A year and a half ago – he explains – I found 117 works under administration: if the administration is an exception, then you have to give a signal with exceptional procedures. But if the commissioner is not an exception but a practice, something is obviously not working.” Regarding the Region, Salvini explains the public works financing plan that has “never been so large since the post-war period”. «We have 39 billion of the Pnrr for rail traffic, given that roads and airports cannot be built, and we are investing in high speed and commuter lines», explains Salvini. He then reeled off the local data: «For the Vigevano – Malpensa 350 million financed for 18 kilometres. On the Becca bridge, in the program contract signed between Anas and the ministry there is money for the design of the new bridge; on the Milan – Pavia – Tortona the works will start in the second half of 2024 and for the Milan-Mortara we are working on an agreement with motorways and railways on the priorities and I hope to include it among the priorities for 2025″. The minister explained that his mission is “to open construction sites, close construction sites, create infrastructure, simplify”.
From Europe, he explains, “I expect it to do a few things and do them well: to deal with peace, well-being and full employment”. He talks about the 200 billion between Pnrr and other funds available for infrastructure. And how everyone is asking for ring roads and motorways from Cantù, to Cremona, to Mantua: «I make the ministry available to do what is needed but I ask the industrialists’ assembly to give me a hand and make you feel. In each of the construction sites from Genoa to Bari there is the no committee, the complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office, the appeal to the TAR, the Superintendency. I have tens of millions of euros stopped for these reasons, and I understand that industrialists have little time but I ask you to make yourselves heard to defend the infrastructures you need”.
