Statement by the President of Confindustria Lombardia, Alberto Ribolla

Milan, 21 June 2016 – “As highlighted in the SACE Report presented today, one of the decisive factors in maintaining the high competitiveness of our businesses and our export levels is the manufacturing sector, of which Made in Italy represents the pinnacle of excellence. There are, in fact, many other ‘Made in Italy as well’ sectors that do not have the same appeal as fashion and luxury, but which are equally excellent and skilfully leverage the reputational advantage of Made in Italy in fashion or agri-food. This is particularly true for Lombardy, the leading region for Italian manufacturing. Furthermore, according to the study conducted by Confindustria Lombardia for the #Lombardia2030 strategic plan, ours is the European region with the highest number of employees in the manufacturing sector (nearly one million people), and its exports exceed those of entire countries such as Hungary and Denmark,” stated Confindustria Lombardia President Alberto Ribolla, who spoke at the SACE conference as part of the ‘i-Tale: the other Made in Italy’ panel.

“Lombardy also demonstrates, through events such as this, that to be increasingly strong and competitive in international markets, it is essential to have a convergence of objectives and actions among the various stakeholders: institutions, businesses, and financial entities must work as a system, each maintaining their own core business while sharing strategies for internationalisation—a process we strongly supported and initiated during the ‘#Lombardia3030 – Sharing the Future’ conference last February.”

“To export more effectively, Confindustria Lombardia has identified two priorities: increasing the size of our businesses, including through collaborative arrangements, and improving the relationship between businesses and finance based on trust and the diversification of funding sources. Finally, let us not forget that internationalisation is not just about exports; it is a two-way process: inward, through a region’s ability to attract investment, and outward, through exports,” concluded Alberto Ribolla.

Attachments

• President Ribolla statement - RE-action SACE - 21Jun2016.pdf
• press-release---export-report.pdf