PORTOFINO (ITALPRESS) – Portofino was the stage for the conference “The Economy of the South: Development, Opportunities and Challenges,” an event of national importance focused on economic development issues in the southern regions of Italy. Promoted by FederTerziario, Servizinnova and FondItalia, the initiative enjoyed the patronage of important institutional bodies and Rai Calabria. “The choice of Portofino as the location for this conference of national importance is not accidental. In fact, it is intended to amplify the visibility of the event and emphasize the need for deep integration between the development of Southern Italy and that of other regions of the country. Only through this synergy will it be possible to achieve an authentic and sustainable development in the long term,” says Savino Magno, director and coordinator of the event and one of the creators of the initiative.Providing the perspective of the potential of Southern Italy are the positive numbers, highlighted in July by Svimez, which underline how the growth of the southern GDP in 2023, even higher than the other Italian macro-areas, fits into a five-year period, which began in 2019, which overall has seen the gross domestic product of Southern Italy exceed the national average (+3.7 percent versus +3.5 percent). ISTAT, with reference to 2023, also certified that GDP increased in volume by 1.3 percent in the South and 1 percent in the Northwest, compared with more moderate dynamics in the Northeast (+0.8 percent) and, above all, in the Center (+0.5 percent).In terms of employment, the South was also the area that made the greatest contribution to growth, providing an increase in the number of employed people that reached 2.5 percent.”The positive numbers of the economy of the south of Italy in the last five years,” explains Nicola Patrizi, president of FederTerziario, “testify to the good impact of the measures activated at the national and European level, but they should not mislead because the territorial gap is still wide and is expressed, despite signs of improvement and expansion, on the digitalization front, on infrastructure and transport. We have a duty to promote investment and continue to empower the public administration without falling into the trap of welfarism: the Mezzogiorno, between Pnrr and the geopolitical situation, must be supported on its path, it will benefit the entire national economy. “The development of the Mezzogiorno remains a strategic junction for the country: a few weeks ago the governor of the Bank of Italy in Catania pointed out that if the per capita GDP of this area increased to 75 percent of that of the Center North our per capita income would exceed that of France. A work that needs to be built for medium-term goals, to be sustained through some key words that will guide the debate of the event: dialogue, innovation, collaboration, excellence, concrete strategies and youth participation.The conference, moderated by Luca Ponzi, editor-in-chief of TGR Liguria, opened with the institutional greetings of the Deputy Mayor of Portofino, Giorgio D’Alia as host while the following institutional greetings were entrusted to: Egidio Sangue National Director of FondItalia, Umberto Risso, President of Confindustria Genova and President AGN Energia, and Gianmichele Passarini, National Vice President of CIA. Other keynote speakers included Nicola Patrizi, National President of FederTerziario; Luca Brondelli di Brondello, National Vice President of Confagricoltura; Aldo Ferrara, President of Unindustria Calabria and member of the General Council of Confindustria; Gianluca Gallo, Agricultural Councillor for the Calabria Region; Mario Grillo, National President of Turismo Verde – CIA; and Pietro Santo Molinaro, Calabria Regional Councilor and President of the Commission against the ‘Ndrangheta phenomenon.
– FederTerziario press office photo -(ITALPRESS).
