Date:
21 March 2017
Synergy on Industry 4.0 with Portuguese institutional and business delegation
Milan, 21 March 2017 – Confindustria Lombardia met today at its Milan headquarters with an institutional and business delegation from Portugal. The delegation was led by the Portuguese Secretary of State for Industry, João Vasconcelos, and António Saraiva, President of CIP – Confederação Empresarial de Portugal, the Portuguese industrial federation.
The mission opened with a discussion between the delegation and the President of Confindustria Lombardia, Alberto Ribolla, focusing on increasing synergies and exchanging best practices between Lombardy and Portugal.
“Meetings such as today’s – stated the President of Confindustria Lombardia Alberto Ribolla – represent essential opportunities for discussion and exchange, vital for developing business relations and for the internationalisation of our companies and regions. As outlined in the #Lombardia2030 Strategic Plan, which has generated significant interest among our Portuguese partners, building relationships and exchanging best practices, for instance on Industry 4.0, are part of a comprehensive internationalisation process that is no longer solely export-oriented, but bidirectional and constructive. We are in the midst of an epochal shift for the manufacturing sector, and sharing experiences can provide the added value necessary to increase corporate competitiveness,” concluded Ribolla.
João Vasconcelos, Secretary of State for Industry for the Portuguese government, stated: "Lombardy has been on the Portuguese radar since our economy began progressing towards Industry 4.0. The similarities between our manufacturing industries, which are largely composed of SMEs and micro-enterprises ready to embrace digitalisation, should allow us to exchange best practices and increase collaboration as we advance through this industrial revolution. This is the primary purpose of our visit."
Following the institutional visit, the Portuguese delegation’s mission continued with tours of the Rold Spa facilities in Nerviano, focusing on Rold Smartfab, a true ‘Access Point for Industry 4.0’, as well as Goglio Spa in the province of Varese and the Como Next Science and Technology Park, where the delegation visited three companies specialising in the aerospace, nanotechnology, and lighting sectors.
Participants in the Portuguese delegation also included Carla Siqueira of CIP; Jorge Portugal, Director General of Cotec Portugal; Susana Escaria, Chief of Cabinet to the Portuguese Secretary of State for Industry; Elisio Oliveira, Economic Advisor; Fernando Sousa of CEI and the Produtech cluster, and member of the Manufacturing Technology Platform; Nelson Fontainhas of Deloitte Portugal; and Eduardo Sotto Moura of AICEP Portugal.
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