At the “A Sea of Switzerland” conference in Lugano, speeches by Paroli, Salis, Bucci, Gobbi, Pisano, Messina, Costa
Lugano – Deputy Minister Edoardo Rixi announces a check on all concessions in Italian ports with the aim of creating a system and in view of the reform law which should lead to the creation of a new central entity, Porti Italia, to which all the Adsp will refer.
At the “A Sea of Switzerland” conference in Lugano, now in its eighth edition, the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport underlined the need for clear rules, the same theme reiterated by the president of the Western Ligurian Sea Adsp Matteo Paroli who stated: “To attract investments, strong governance, legal stability and administrative clarity are needed”. Citing the recent solution for the issue of the concession to the Spinelli group (61% Spinelli and 49% Hapag Lloyd) for the GPT terminal in the port of Genoa, which had been cancelled one year ago by the Council of State following an appeal by PSA-Sech, Paroli emphasized: “we wanted to send a clear signal: those who invest in Italy must have the certainty that they can invest, in Italian ports it is possible to invest but we must guarantee certain and consistent rules”.
Reliability is needed to attract international investors, in the face of global market uncertainties, a theme that recurred in the conference’s roundtables which discussed infrastructure, regulatory reliability, digitalization and also the Arctic route. With a warning: “It is a dangerous suggestion that could cut out the centrality of the Mediterranean and alter a very delicate ecosystem – says Paroli. Europe must defend the coherence between environmental transition and commercial development, safeguarding the strategic centrality of the Mediterranean after the Red Sea and Suez crisis”.
To strengthen relations between Italy, primarily Liguria, and Switzerland, the key issue remains infrastructure, the southern continuation of Alptransit, as emphasized by the President of the State Council of the Canton of Ticino, Norman Gobbi, to make it more convenient for companies to use the Southern gateway of the Mediterranean instead of Northern European ports. After all, Genoa and Savona are the closest ports to any city and company in Switzerland, recalls the President of the Liguria Region Marco Bucci, while the Mayor of Genoa Silvia Salis aims to renew and strengthen the cooperation protocol between Genoa and Lugano.
Also on the topic of agreements, the one on cross-border cabotage with Switzerland is also nearing completion, explains Rixi. “The text is ready for adoption by the Council of Ministers – he said in Lugano, before leaving for Genoa for the inaugural journey of the quadrupling of the railway tracks between Voltri and Sampierdarena which will allow the separation of local traffic from long-distance and freight traffic –. The agreement represents a concrete step forward to improve the efficiency of cross-border connections, reduce empty journeys and enhance transport services in border areas for the benefit of citizens and businesses”.
Among those who participated in the discussions during the various roundtables at the conference were, among others, Fabrizio Vettosi (VSL Club), Gabriele Corte (Ceresio Investors), Enrico Loewenthal (Equiter SGR), Stefano Messina (Assarmatori), Gianluca Croce (Assagenti), Ignazio Messina (Gruppo Messina), Ugo Patroni Griffi (professor of Sustainable Infrastructure and Logistics at the Aldo Moro University of Bari), Juan Pablo Richards (Hapag-Lloyd), Bruno Pisano (president of the Eastern Ligurian Sea Adsp).
