The 2024 Assizes of Assolombarda’s Pavia headquarters were held yesterday, Monday 6 May 2024, at Palazzo Esposizioni. Also guest was the Minister of Infrastructure and Vice Premier, Matteo Salvini. Alessandro Spada: “Infrastructures are central to the full competitiveness of a territory that expresses innovation and industrial excellence. With Minister Salvini we shared the interventions that cannot be postponed and our related prospects for development and growth”.
Salvini in Pavia with Assolombarda
They took place at Palazzo delle Esposizioni of Pavia the Assizes 2024 of the Pavia branch of Assolombarda, entitled ‘Your Next Pavia’.
The Assizes of Pavia, opened by the intervention of President of Assolombarda Alessandro Spadawere a unique moment of sharing, reflection and comparison between the economic, social and institutional actors of the area.
The occasion was the update of 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 footwear supply chain created by Assolombarda Study Center.
The infrastructures
During the event the fundamental theme of infrastructure, with the President of Assolombarda and the Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Transport, Matteo Salvini. That of infrastructures is, for Assolombarda, one of the strategic junctions that slows down a solid recovery and a sure start towards a path of territorial rebalancingfundamental 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 Pavia which expresses innovation and industrial excellence – he declared Alessandro Spada, President of Assolombarda -. With this awareness, we greatly appreciated that, with the choice of the commissioner, the Vigevano – Malpensa highway has obtained financing for 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’s economy.
At the same time we certainly appreciate the inclusion of 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 area to come the railway line between Milan and Mortara was doubled – which still lacks a definitive project and related funding – and that we proceed quickly to find the resources for the quadrupling of the entire Milan-Pavia-Tortona line along the Rhine-Alpine Corridor, strategic for connections with the port of Genoa. 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 the Minister Matteo Salvini because infrastructural connections are both a lever of competitiveness but also of economic security and strategic autonomy”.
Matteo Salvini’s speech
Salvini arrived at Palazzo Esposizioni around 5pm. Deputy Prime Minister Salvini highlighted a financing plan for public works unprecedented since the post-war period: “We have 39 billion of the Pnrr for investments in rail traffic, focusing on high speed and commuter lines.” Furthermore, it provides details on local projects, such as the financing for the Vigevano-Malpensa and the works planned on the Milan-Pavia-Tortona in the second half of 2024.
Finally, it emphasizes its mission to open and close construction sites and simplify infrastructure. Regarding Europe, he underlines the importance of a Union that works to ensure peace, well-being and full employment. Speaking about the European funds available for the Pnrr and other infrastructures, invites industrialists to collaborate to defend the necessary projectsdespite bureaucratic challenges: “Make yourself heard to defend the works you need.
The event continued with the intervention of Valeria Negri, Director of the Assolombarda Study Center, with two territorial analyses: the economic framework with the prospects for 2024and the focus on the footwear supply chain.
The recent economic picture and the prospects for 2024
2023 was un year of still positive growth for the Pavia economy, albeit slowing down compared to the previous two years of post-Covid restart, suffering like Lombardy and Italy from the slowdown in global demand and the fragile and uncertain context conditioned by wars, still high inflation, new frictions in global trade.
The results of the territory, in terms of production and export are important: the data speak of a GDP for Pavia increased by a value higher than that of 2019 +4.2%a better performance than the national one (+3.5%), and a record 4.5 billion euros of foreign turnover in 2023, with an increase of +0.6% compared to 2022, while Italy, although on an all-time high, remained firm.
Looking ahead, the expectations for 2024 are one further growth of +1.0%: an expansion aligned with Lombardy and still above the most recent estimates for Italy (+0.7% in the Prometeia scenario). With these dynamics, at the end of 2024 Pavia would be positioned at a level of added value higher than +5.3% compared to pre-Covid (for comparison: Lombardy is at +6.7%, Italy at +4.2 %).
On the labor market, focusing on the last year, in 2023 compared to 2022 the number of employed grows by +3 thousand units (+1.4%). In parallel, unemployment continues to decrease significantly and drops to 4.7%, with a drop of 1.3 percentage points compared to 5.9% the previous year and -2 points from 2019, thus reducing the distance from the regional average. The Pavia rate is still slightly higher than the Lombard figure (4.0%), but is decidedly lower than the national average of 7.7%.
The footwear supply chain
The district of Vigevano and Lomellinamade up of footwear materials and components, footwear manufacturers and footwear meccano together, is an evolving ecosystem capable of activating more than 1 billion euros in annual turnover, with an increase of +28.5% from 2019 to 2022 The added value generated by its companies accounts for 7.3% of the total Pavia industry.
By focusing on a closed sample of 142 companies, for which financial statements from 2022 to 2019 are available, it is possible to carry out some further comparisons in dynamics by sectors. In 2022, all industrial sectors present a turnover higher than the levels achieved in 2019, but with heterogeneity in performance: +40.6% materials and components for footwear, +29.7% footwear production, +17.3% footwear machinery. The sector of trade and services presents, on the contrary, a gap equal to approximately -4%.
In dimensional terms, numerically prevail micro businesses (2022 turnover less than 2 million euros) which represent 60% of the companies surveyed, alongside a further 25% of small businesses (annual turnover between 2 and 10 million euros). 12% are medium-sized companies (annual turnover between 10 and 50 million euros) and only 3% (i.e. 4 companies) are large companies (above 50 million turnover).
The district presents specificities and sectoral synergies within itself: within the supply chain, due to their number and vitality, the industrial chemical and rubber companies that operate upstream in the sector of materials and components for shoes stand out, and the realities of the producers of machinery serving the footwear market. The sector of companies that deal further downstream with the production of footwear is, however, going through a downsizing and the presence in the area, despite having very high quality production companies, is reduced in number.
The Strategic Plan for the relaunch of the territory
Four years after the start of the process, some of the indications contained in the Strategic Plan presented in 2020 have become reality and some trends of positive change have incontrovertibly established themselves: from the choice of Pavia as the headquarters of the Chips-IT Foundationat the start of the construction of the Cardano Park with Arexpo, from the activated ITS paths, to the processes of regeneration of the former Neca and former Necchi areaup to the tenders for the works of Vigevano-Malpensato the investments that are giving substance to the relaunch of thermalism in Oltrepò. 2023 was a turning point for the Pavia area, thanks also to the recognition of Pavia Capital of business culture and the extraordinary program of events and initiatives that resulted – a program promoted by Assolombarda, but created with the active involvement of numerous local actors.
The new Plan now has a structure made up of 5 development guidelines: sustainability, innovation, human capital, business culture and infrastructure. Added to these five levers are three territorial focuses: the district of Vigevano, the Oltrepò, the European Charter for Regional Aid.
“Our ambition is that Pavia will emerge from this Plan as a Green Smart Land – he said Nicholas de Cardenas, President of Assolombarda’s Pavia office. – After the special year of Capital of Business Culture, we are even more determined and convinced of what the place of this territory could be in the economy of the metropolitan area.
There is no shortage of investments, let’s think of Arexpo and Colline e Oltre, which have demonstrated their faith in this area and its development trajectories. Innovation it is a possibility that we have at our fingertips, having witnessed, in the last year, an impetuous acceleration of processes that go in this direction, between twin transitions, digital, artificial intelligence, green economy and circular economy. I invite all the players in our ecosystem to work to imagine initiatives that celebrate and give further impetus to this revolution of ours towards innovation.
There certainly are some critical situations, in particular, which require greater commitment and a change of pace, especially from the institutions, as President Spada well explained. We are thinking above all of the Lombardy Region and its initiative for the definition of the Framework Agreement for Territorial Development (AQST) of the Province of Pavia, negotiated programming tool. Another theme that we consider essential for the territorial rebalancing of some areas of our territory is that relating to the Charter of State Aid for regional purposes. It is now necessary that this opportunity is translated into concrete incentive measures that exploit all the possibilities.”
The work continued with a Panel discussion on the transformation prospects underway in the three different territories: they intervened Maria Vittoria Brustiapresident of Assomac who spoke about the footwear supply chain, Igor De BiasioCEO of Arexpo who showed the centrality of Pavia in his company’s investments, who in Milan is giving new life and shape to Mind and who in Pavia works on Cardano sustainable development technology parkthe president of Colline e Oltre, Massimo Grasselliwho told the development strategies for the Oltrepò.
