Veneto is once again left empty-handed and loses artificial intelligence chip factory of the Singapore giant Silicon Box: an investment of 3.2 billion euros, one third of which is supported by public incentives, which will create something like 1,600 direct jobs from 2028, plus the previous and subsequent induced effects (the construction of the plant). As he underlined the Minister for Business Adolfo Ursowho had the task of announcing the choice of the Novara site on Friday, since the beginning of the year, microelectronics in Italy has brought investments of over 9 billion.
Intel e Silicon Box
Not a single euro arrived in Veneto. A year ago, Intel was ready to land in our country; the Region had nominated Vigasio, in the Veronese area, but in the end the company withdrew investments due to financial problems. Silicon Box was also looking for a site in Italy, Veneto was in the final third with Piedmont and Lombardy, again nominating Vigasio, but it did not hit the target. «Two defeats out of two» the opposition points the finger. The faults would be (putting together the critical mass of voices) the lack of a strong industrial district, investments that are not up to par, a infrastructure network not adequate to the requests of Silicon Box but, evidently, also of other international interlocutors. «I don’t think these are the reasons Intel, for example, had found the site of Vigasio suitable for requests, well connected to Germany, strategic axis – comments the Veronese Lega councilor Filippo Rigo -. Silicon Box has made a market choice. The bitterness remains, but Vigasio is ready for other projects”.
Politics
The intention to continue promoting the site filters through from Venice. And some even hypothesize that Piedmont’s choice is political, an agreement with the governor Cirio, of Forza Italia, has just been re-elected. The secretary of the Veneto party, Flavio Tosi, completely rejects the hypothesis: «Just imagine if a Singaporean giant political dynamics between the regions are of interest… It invests where it is convenient, where the conditions are. This means that someone created them, in Piedmont, and someone didn’t, in Veneto”. The infrastructural shortcomings, says Tosi, “are not insurmountable, a motorway toll booth in Vigasio it takes two years and the company will be established in four. But when things concern Treviso the money is there, I think of Prosecco, the airport and Pedemontana. When they concern other provinces, much less. Too bad, it was an opportunity that just had to be seized. There was no need for an industrial policy, it was enough to put moneycommitment and providing guarantees to obtain an investment that would bring a lot to the Veneto”.
«Second cold shower»
The opposition presses and accuses: «Second cold shower on the hi-tech maxi-investments – attacks Jonatan Montanariello, councilor of the Democratic Party -. The investment had been announced with great fanfare by Minister Urso but evidently we can hardly trust this government and attention towards Veneto. And the Region is losing its attractiveness, it has infrastructural gaps never addressed by either Galan or Zaia.” Dem secretary Andrea Martella was sarcastic: «Zaia had talked about a plan B, after Intel, now tell us what your plan C is, because for the moment we only see another missed opportunity due to the inability of the council».
Development plan
“We need to ask ourselves why Veneto is not attractive for the factories of the future,” comments entrepreneur Alberto Baban. “We are not ready. We do not express an industrial center of gravity, while Milan, Bologna and Turin have a clear identity. There is no strategy which, moreover, requires long preparation, we arrive when things are already happening. The infrastructural element does not hold up, our manufacturing and our small businesses work hard, we produce the components, but we have to play in Serie A if we want to compete. We need an industrial, political and relational development plan”.
