“The rebirth of Rome passes through the relaunch of the Fair”. Pietro Piccinetti has no doubts that since 12 April he has accepted "for love of my city and for the charm of the challenge" to become sole director of the new trade fair company. In three months he developed the 2017-19 industrial plan which gives a clear turn to the Roman battleship, which has been left adrift for too long. Now the focus is on three directions: internationalisation; demonstrations in support of local industry; conferences and congresses. The goal is to ferry the Nuova Fiera di Roma from the current deep red to economic and financial equilibrium in 2018. There is no doubt that this is an ambitious challenge; that a horse cure is needed, equally. Above all it is a challenge that is intertwined with the future of Rome and the ball for it to be a success, therefore, is also in the hands of the new mayor Virginia Raggi.
The next and most immediate turning point of a strategy that calls together shareholders in a collective effort aimed at relaunching is now represented by the decision of the Capitol, expected by the very day on which this interview is published, on sending all documents relating to sale of the Old Fair area. It is about 7 hectares on the edge of the historic center and a building recovery operation on which Commissioner Tronca completed the preparatory work but then decided to give the new mayor the go-ahead for the passage of papers. A fundamental step, the only one able to guarantee the resources to allow Investimenti Spa (58,5% Chamber of Commerce, 21,7% Municipality of Rome, 9,8% Lazio Region and 9,8% Lazio Innova, controlled by region) to repay the 200 million accumulated debts. The alternative would be bankruptcy or the sale of the entire Fair complex, old and new.
In the meantime, Piccinetti – engaged in private equity and a 59-year-old technician with twenty years of experience in the exhibition sector, half spent abroad and the rest in Milan, also with a position as CEO of the Pordenone Fair and on the board of the association of European trade fairs (Cefa) – started the first actions and tells them in this interview with FIRSTonline. It aims to transform the Fair into a stage for the Made in Italy, Lazio and national, to attract foreign investments and to promote the vocation of Rome for congress tourism. For this reason he was in Tehran, on the mission led in April by Prime Minister Renzi to whom he acknowledges the merit of having understood the importance of the exhibition sector as a driving force for development. “After years of economic crisis, fortunately the market is restarting. The raining funding has ended, rightly so, and whoever walks goes on his own. We don't ask for help – this is Piccinetti's philosophy – but be careful. This government was the first to decide to invest in fairs, selecting the projects that deserve to be rewarded. This is what Germany is doing, which has invested 850 million in the pipeline, or France, which is planning 500. If we all row together, we can do it too; united we win”.
The plan is ambitious. Are you aware that yours could be a mission impossible?
“I'll answer you with numbers: in Italy we have 34 exhibition sites, in Germany there are 70, even small but well-rooted in the area. We are the first two industrial manufacturers in Europe. The most important trade fairs in the world are German, they derive over 50% of their turnover from abroad, they are expanding in the Asean regions, the nations of South East Asia which have a growth rate of 8-9% per year. They support German companies and that's why Germany exports. There is no shortage of opportunities in Italy too, trade fairs are the turbocharger of the economy”.
In Italy, however, many trade fairs such as Bologna, Genoa and Forlì have financial statements in deep red. And let's not talk about Rome where the problems have deep and distant roots in time.
“The sector has been affected by an unprecedented industrial crisis, a "war" that has left many companies on the field, heavily affecting entire districts. All this could not fail to affect the trade fair sector which, it is true, was also influenced by a past of bad management and weighed down by the logic of the armchair factory. Now the music has changed, managers have been appointed to manage the Fairs, the system generates business for 60 billion at a national level and in 2015 it recorded an increase in visitors (+3,5%) and exhibitors (+5,7% ). 50% of exports go through trade fairs”.
We come to Rome. How do you get out of the current crisis? And how can the redevelopment of Fiera contribute to the economic revitalization of the capital?
“It's true we found a dramatic situation and the parent company Investimenti is burdened by a debt of 200 million inherited from the Vecchia Fiera. Every day it costs 22.000 euros in interest. All this can be repaired with the sale of the old exhibition complex, as was successfully done in Milan in two years. I'm confident the Capitol will move forward with the operation. We have to make people understand that Italy is the fourth largest exhibition power in the world and this is all energy for the territory, to create jobs thanks to related industries. We have the same interest: I am here to relaunch the Fair, they are here to revive Rome. We have many ideas and many are already in the works”.
Tell us about them.
“In November 2016, from 22 to 27, we inaugurate the formula of country presentation with Iran. There will be Iranian ministers and companies, they will come and introduce themselves here. A very important meeting and exchange opportunity that we could repeat, if successful. We have started talks with Morocco, Algeria, China. Before that, from 27 to 31 August we are hosting the Esc congress, the largest cardiovascular congress in the world: 35 delegates and a total of 60 visitors to Rome. A very conservative estimate indicates 200 million related industries for Rome between hotels, restaurants and shopping. We intend to allocate 3 pavilions to congresses, by investing 4-5 million we can guarantee up to 9.000 seats. To attract foreign investments we then have Blast, in May 2017, a real expo of start-ups and companies linked to digital innovation. We are also proceeding with a restyling of the Fair in terms of decoration and hospitality. Whoever comes will be amazed. And Rome, from this point of view, has no equal”.
But how do you relaunch a trade fair that can't count on an efficient subway and public transport: it doesn't depend on you but isn't that a problem either?
"Certain. The Fiera di Roma station is absolutely in deficit, disruptions are the order of the day and we wrote it to Trenitalia requesting a restoration of the regularity of the trains which at the moment only arrive from Tiburtina and Ostiense. The truth is that the Leonardo Express that goes from Termini to Fiumicino Airport should also stop at the Fair. We are also discussing this with Trenitalia. And then there's the issue of cleaning: in a consortium with other operators, including Commercity, we are gearing up to ensure the service on our own”.
Rome is an open-air museum and one of the most important tourist destinations. Not to mention the opportunity represented by the Olympics, if they happen.
“Rome is the fourth-fifth tourist city in the world and is only in 17th place for congress tourism. We have to climb this ranking knowing that each step conquered is worth hundreds of millions for related industries. A driving force for Rome but for the entire Italian economy”.
