(Finance) – “Southern Italy, with its privileged geographical position and its rich cultural history, can and must play, now more than ever, a fundamental role in promoting cooperation and development between Europe and the shores of Mediterranean”. She said it Gian Maria Gros-Pietro, president of Intesa Sanpaolo, in the introductory speech of conference “Southern Agenda 2030: Where Europe meets the Mediterranean”ongoing today and tomorrow at the Gallerie d’Italia in Naples.
Gros-Pietro underlined that during the two days “a South will be explored that is not sufficiently known, rich in dynamism and desire for enterprise, a South that our banking group is actively supporting, and I must say with satisfaction, in the knowledge that the growth in the South makes the entire country grow.”
“The South – he continued – is not at all the industrial desert that is sometimes falsely portrayed: if it were a State it would be in seventh place among the manufacturing countries in Europe in terms of number of companies, with a marked concentration in key sectors such as aerospace , automotive, agri-food, clothing-fashion and pharmaceuticals. Its productive fabric is strengthening: at the end of 2023, joint-stock companies active in Southern Italy were over 408 thousand, 30 percent of the Italian total. large business is present with around 60 companies, especially in Campania and Puglia, with the potential to drive the economic transition. In total, the South has over 210 billion euros available for its growth”.
The president of Intesa Sanpaolo Furthermore, he placed emphasis on the “significant” presence of innovative companies which “we at Intesa Sanpaolo support through our Innovation Hub, the ESG Laboratory, Agritech and Terra Next, but the relaunch of the South in the Euro-Mediterranean context also counts on the maritime economy, energy and tourism”.