MILAN (ITALPRESS) – “Saudi Arabia exemplifies a country that is profoundly changing. King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Prince and Prime Minister Bin Salman have fostered the calling of a ruling class trained in the best schools in the world. For us it represents a market where we have been present since 1966 and where we have a pipeline of more than 30 billion euros, while the work already acquired is worth 7 billion.” So says Pietro Salini, CEO of Webuild, in an interview with “Corriere della Sera,” in the hours when the new subway, partly designed and built by the Italian group itself, is being inaugurated in Riyadh. “We are completing the Orange line, a 42-kilometer infrastructure with as many as 22 stations,” he adds. “The symbol of the line will be the Downtown Station, near the palace of the Governor of Riyadh. Salini says that in the water sector in Arabia, “last January the construction of three dams collecting desalinated water was contracted, to be used for the operation of the Trojena ski resort. Which will host the Winter Olympic Games in 2029, in the Neom region. Another work will be the construction of the high-speed “Connector” in the futuristic city of Neom. “Taking stock of 2024, Salini notes that “this year has gone very well, in the first nine months of 2024 targets have already been met and we will exceed 11 billion euros in revenues. Growth continues with record numbers, almost 20 percent year on year. 90% of the orders acquired are outside the Italian market, confirming that abroad the sector expresses sustained demand. The Middle East and particularly Saudi Arabia is a strategic area for us. This year we hired 3,000 people in Italy, about 1,000 trained in Webuild-funded schools. Finally, I would add that in the last month we have delivered the M4 line in Milan, in these hours the Riyadh metro is being inaugurated, and in two days the Thessaloniki metro will be delivered. We are a company capable of completing complex works in several countries, delivering them simultaneously. “In Italy Pizzarotti points to the need to create a second national champion in the construction sector. “I am in favor of having competition such as we encounter around the world; competition stimulates improvement of processes and skills. But,” Salini retorts, “we have to ask a crucial question: can we afford two national champions in a shrinking market? The truth is that we must guard against the risk of creating champions or, even, dwarfs, while giants are operating in the rest of the world. “As for the Pnrr works, “everything is proceeding and we will make it, but we also have to reckon with rules that are not always consistent with the need to carry out such an important program quickly. And then,” Salini concludes, “I do not believe that the 2026 deadline is a blind guillotine that strikes without mercy.
– Photo: Photogram Agency -(ITALPRESS).
