(Finance) – “Skills, Connections and Competitiveness” (the 3 Cs) represent the challenges for the future of the productive and economic fabric of Noon. The strengthening of these three dimensions, also favored by the allocation of European funds and from PNRR, represents an obligatory path. Now is the time for the Southern Italy make the definitive qualitative leap. This was revealed by the “Mid-summer economic panorama of the South” published by SRM, Centro Studi connected to the group Intesa Sanpaolowhich provides a different narrative of a Southern Italy that offers innovative realities and growth prospects, identifying unexpected numbers about the southern economic and productive reality and providing food for thought and guidelines for the restart of the country.
The number of businesses: the data recorded, in June, a + 0.7% compared to 2021 (-0.1% the figure for Italy); moreover, over 170 thousand youth enterprises are active, 40% of the national figure, with a youth entrepreneurship rate higher than the national average (9.8% against 8.3%). Exports are in strong recovery: in the first quarter of the year, a + 26.3% (Italian average + 22.6%) is highlighted. In the South there are over 15 thousand “innovative” enterprises, 17% of the national figure.
Compared to 2014, the number of businesses innovative it grew by approximately 52% compared to 34% of the national average and expenditure per employee increased by € 1,800 (Italian average + € 2,800). The South contains all the elements to start a growth path based on the 3Cs: the starting point is its endogenous forces linked primarily to the prevailing sectors (Sea, Energy, Tourism, Environment) which can contribute decisively to the restart of the area .
THE portsthe logistics and it shipping are the elements that move theeconomy of the sea and that can favor the competitiveness of the country in the Mediterranean. The logistical potential of the South is great: the southern ports serve 47% of the country’s freight traffic equal to 224 million tons of goods handled in 2021 (+ 7.1%; in Italy + 8.4%). In the South there are also 36,500 transport and logistics companies (1/3 of Italy).
From an energy point of view, the South is confirmed as strategic due to the significant potential for electricity generation from green sources. The area accounts for 40% of the total in terms of cumulative power installed by RES. Looking at the sector of the tourismthe Mezzogiorno accounted for about 20% of tourist flows with over 15.4 million arrivals. The recovery compared to 2020 was considerable: + 43% compared to a national average + 41.2%. The foreign component grew in the South by 107.5% (in Italy + 62.9%).
As for theenvironment and the sustainability, in the South the bioeconomic footprint is greater than the national average: 24.9 billion VA were produced (7% of the total economy of the area. In Italy it is 6.4%), with 715 thousand employees (10, 4% of the total employed compared to 7.9% of the national total). These are respectively 24.1% and 35.5% of the national figure. Furthermore, out of a sample of 700 manufacturing companies interviewed by SRM, in the South 49% declare that they have carried out investments in the last three years (15 pp compared to the three-year period 2018-2020).
Looking at the future, the desire for digital is growing (62% of the companies that will invest in it) and there is greater attention to relations with the world of research (57% of the investing companies). The future growth path is therefore closely linked to the ability of the country and the South to make the best use of resources available (over 200 billion until 2030) and which will have to be spent efficiently and with quality planning. To achieve the objectives set, the emphasis must be placed on those transversal sectors which, also thanks to the correct use of available resources and the completion of reforms, represent the lifeblood of the new society and fundamental levers for development: training, sustainability, innovation, digitization and social economy. In these sectors, the Mezzogiorno highlights important areas for improvement and challenging growth objectives.
“The data show that there is a South that despite everything is able to contribute to the growth of the country. The current economic and political phase highlights growing opportunities and threats, making it even more necessary to implement reforms and to be able to effectively invest the resources available. It is time to take advantage of all the opportunities that exist so that the South can really begin a path of recovery of the historic gap with the rest of Italy and contribute to the relaunch
of the whole country ”, he declared Paul SquiresPresident of SRM.
Maximum Deandreis, Director General SRM, added: “with this study we want to offer a different interpretation, oriented to look at the South as an area with a wide potential for development and rich in human and entrepreneurial resources that must be supported and relaunched. SRM with a proactive logic wants to investigate how the South can concretely contribute to the growth of the country also thanks to the available resources and the ongoing reforms, tracing new objectives and new development models. Skills, logistic and digital connections, competitive and structured companies represent the central factors for the relaunch. And the numbers show that despite the many and well-known difficulties, there is also a South that innovates, produces and knows how to be competitive.