Statement by Gianluigi Viscardi, President of Small Industry at Confindustria Lombardia

Milan, 4 May 2017 – "The first quarter of 2017 represents a turning point for Lombardy, driven by the manufacturing sector. The quarterly economic data presented today at Unioncamere Lombardia show industrial production growing beyond expectations (+1.7% quarter-on-quarter; +4% year-on-year), foreign orders (+4.2%) confirming their role as an essential component of our companies' business, and the regained strength of the regional domestic market (+2.1%). Further evidence of the excellent health of Lombardy's industry is the recovery in investment – a consequence of the Industry 4.0 Plan incentives – as well as employment data, which grew by 0.5% this quarter, and the further sharp decline in the use of the Wage Guarantee Fund (CIG), which fell from 11.1 to 8.9."

All this indicates that we have entered a virtuous circle and, as Confindustria Lombardia has repeatedly emphasised, for Italy to return to constant, sustainable and competitive growth, Lombardy must lead the way. The data presented today suggests that this moment has finally arrived.
However, it is the regional manufacturing production index that best illustrates the sector's boom: the 106.8 recorded has reached European levels (107.9), while Italy stands at 94.2. With this acceleration, Lombardy's manufacturing sector is outperforming the European average.

It is clear that the manufacturing sector is responding positively to the major stimulus provided by the national Industry 4.0 Plan, which, as a recent Ucimu study also highlighted, is beginning to bear fruit. It was crucial, however, for the entire Lombard economic system that companies were prepared.
In this regard, I would like to reiterate the proposal made by Ucimu President Massimo Carboniero to the Minister of Economic Development, Carlo Calenda, to make the 'Super-amortisation' a structural measure and to include 'Hyper-amortisation' in the next Stability Law.

In my role as President of Small Industry at Confindustria Lombardia, I would like to set the goal to which the Lombard system, as a public-private partnership, must aspire: to become the national benchmark for Industry 4.0. Companies, represented by Confindustria Lombardia, are playing their part by working on the creation of a regional Digital Innovation Hub, the development of a training plan, and a regional education plan on Industry 4.0 topics."

Attachments

• Q1 2017 economic statement - 4May2017.pdf
• Q1 2017 economic press release.pdf