The importance of attracting investments that produce lasting employment; the need to improve the management of ASI, the industrial development area of Bari; and the opening of a constant dialogue between the municipal administration and entrepreneurs: these are some of the topics that the mayoral candidates of Bari discussed today with the president of Confindustria Puglia, Sergio Fontanaand representatives of the various sectors of the industrialists’ association.
The candidates participated Vito Leccese (Pd, Greens), Michele Laforgia (M5s and Italian Left), Sabino Mangano (Beyond list); Fabio Romito (united centre-right); While Nicola Sciacovelli (supported by two civic lists), sent one of its delegates, Nicola Romano.For Laforgia it is necessary to “institutionalize what we are doing here, with a permanent table where the administration’s agenda can be controlled”.
“The Asi consortium – he added – does not meet the minimum attractiveness requirements and this is a problem; furthermore there are problems on the general road network throughout the metropolitan city and there is a problem regarding the cleanliness of the city with overflowing bins already here in the morning, in front of the Confindustria headquarters”.
“The promise I can make – said Leccese – is an enormous willingness to listen and discuss: we must reform the industrial development areas because the old type of governance did not work, the services provided are not up to par and there is a problem of representation. It is absurd that the greatest number of representatives is in the hands of institutional political subjects and not entrepreneurs”.
Mangano, former municipal councilor of the M5s and computer scientist, focused on technological delays: “We are behind – he said – I work with the north centre, I can’t find opportunities here. It’s true that many companies have arrived but what is the impact on young people? Maybe they come here because they pay an IT consultant 25-30 thousand euros while in the center and north they pay 60 thousand?”.
Romito spoke about the program contracts used by the Region and Municipality to attract investments and said that “I would like them to also be aimed at our companies that have been investing and producing wealth here for decades, not just multinationals”. “Meetings like today’s – he underlined – I would codify at an institutional level, through an institute of direct participation so that you can intervene in the City Council” when dealing with a topic that concerns industrial development.
