Entrepreneurs from the Small Industry Committees of Confindustria Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto meet in Bologna

20 May 2019 − The Small Industry Committees of Confindustria Lombardia, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto met in Bologna to strengthen relationships and joint projects between small businesses in the country's most advanced manufacturing areas.

Following an in-depth analysis of the economic trends in the three regions, the industrialists discussed key issues for Small Industry, such as business culture and representation, infrastructure, and transport.

“We have decided – stated Paolo Errico, President of Small Industry at Confindustria Veneto – to take a practical approach to this series of meetings by bringing issues directly related to the needs of the region and its businesses to the table, with particular attention to infrastructure, transport, and bureaucratic-administrative simplification, without overlooking the important developments currently taking place at a European level regarding the new 2021-2027 Cohesion Funds, which are still being defined”.

“Our shared goal – emphasised Alvise Biffi, President of Small Industry at Confindustria Lombardia – is to move beyond regional perspectives and converge on concrete growth strategies, in order to provide adequate responses to the needs of the regional production systems we represent, to promote the values that businesses uphold, and to highlight their fundamental role in the development and well-being of our regions”.

“The price that small businesses pay for infrastructure deficiencies – concluded Giovanni Baroni, President of Small Industry at Confindustria Emilia-Romagna – is very high. The infrastructure deficit affects the entire country, businesses, and citizens alike, because the mobility of goods and people is now an essential factor for competitiveness. In addition to the deficit in major transport links with Europe and the rest of the country, small businesses are burdened by the state of lesser-known infrastructure, which may not be covered by the national media but is vital for that area. A bridge over the Po blocked for months, closed to freight or heavy goods transport, means enormous costs for a small business operating in that territory”.