The Svimez report tells us that, for the third consecutive year, the South continued to grow. For two years even with a higher rate than in the North. So, today we are faced with a problem: how do you make this growth structural and not ephemeral; lasting and non-cyclical. But it's a problem that, just three years ago, we wished we had. At the time, in fact, the situation was very different from what the Svimez report tells us today.
First, in the South you invest. There is a recovery in southern industry, with rates above the national average. The Development Contracts managed by Invitalia - and which Svimez itself recognizes as one of the main tools for growth - have not only activated 3,6 billion in investments but, 40% of them have been signed by foreign companies. This means that the South may be distant from international markets, but not far enough not to attract multinationals.
Second, “good” employment is recovering, thanks to the concessions for micro-enterprises and start-ups. In the coming months, the government will also implement a new tool, "I'm staying in the South".
Third, tourism is also growing. A recovery that will also be dictated by exogenous reasons that have in fact reduced the possible tourist attraction destinations. But it is also the result of the choices of the government, which has decided to allocate European funds to increasingly integrate the tourist offer with the cultural one and which has created new incentives such as Cultura Crea, for the birth and development of cultural and tourist businesses .
In short, the South is no longer "a disposable void". At this point, I would like to recall two simple data which contradict those who still accuse the Mezzogiorno of welfare. In 93 public incentives in Italy amounted to 1,2% of GDP, against a European average of 0,8%. In 2016, incentives in Europe averaged 0,62% of GDP, with a decrease of 0,2%. In the same year, in Italy, incentives were paid for 0,24% of GDP, six times less than 25 years ago.
There are, then, two other aspects to take into consideration. Every time undifferentiated policies are implemented, they certainly favor the North more, where the production base is larger, and end up widening the gap with the South.
Last aspect, the South is no longer a single indistinct mass. Again in 2016, Campania grew by 2,4% and Sicily by 0,3%, eight times less. Basilicata by 2,1% and Puglia by 0,7%, three times less.
What to do? In the first place there is a credit problem: interest rates are not only higher than in the North but there are few companies that receive all the credit they ask for from institutions. From this point of view, the recent integration of Banca del Mezzogiorno within the perimeter of Invitalia, with the consequent synergies with the incentives managed by the Agency, can represent a useful contribution to resolving the issue.
Then there is the persistence of the infrastructural gap, which can find an answer with the relaunch of public investments. Our subsidiary, Infratel, has completed tenders for 3 billion for the construction of the ultra-broadband network. And the works will start right from the southern regions.
Finally, there is an administrative deficit. A deficit concentrated above all on the time axis, on the speed with which the bureaucracy is able to give answers to companies that want to invest. In the contemporary world the most important variable for development is not that of capital but that of time.
I would like to conclude by recalling that in the last three years the southern question has finally returned to the government's agenda, after a long period during which a pall of silence had descended on the South. Let us prevent the background noises, the "whispers" heard in recent weeks about the rebirth of a northern question from turning back into "cries" as has already happened in the recent past.
In conclusion, then, I would not like us to wake up to find ourselves still faced with a new Northern Question.
°°° The author is the CEO of Invitalia
