“Emilia-Romagna emerges from the pandemic with its head held high because in the last decade its companies have strengthened through investments: if Covid had arrived at the time of the financial crash of 2009, today we would certainly be in very different difficulties” . Pietro Ferrari, president of Confindustria Emilia-Romagna, thus closes the annual presentation of the Industrial Investment Survey, which for twenty years has seen the regional association collaborate with all the territories to photograph the trends and perspectives of the most emblematic voice of the preparation of companies in the ‘face the global competitive arena.
Sustainability spending tripled
«This is for me the third appointment with this survey and for the third time – underlines the president – even in the midst of a social and economic emergency I note the tenacity with which our companies continue to invest. True, they gave up a bit in 2020 (investments fell to 6.6% of turnover, with a drop of about one percentage point on the year before, ed), but compared to ten years ago the share of those who have invested in sustainable development and 87.4% of companies expect investments this year as well.
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Spending on training
Spending is even more focused than in the past on training (with an increase of ten points in one year in the number of companies involved in this front, up to 58.3%), R&D (49.5%) and environmental protection (29.4%) . While ICT spending drops slightly after the massive investments in 2020 to deal with smart working, services and remote marketing ».
Private and public investments must run in parallel
In 2010, the share of industrial companies investing in ESG sustainable principles was 20%, in 2020 the percentage has risen to 58% and the most “sustainable” investments are also those that fall less. Also because the green theme is entering structurally into company development policies in order to improve not only the cost structure and the external impact but also and above all the reputation towards customers and suppliers. “Companies have continued to invest, with a clear evolutionary trajectory towards ever greater sustainability. Also for 2021, for 60% of companies, increasing the degree of sustainability will be an investment priority ”, explains the president. But he also adds that private and public investments must always go hand in hand: “The objectives of the Regional Pact for work and climate in terms of decarbonisation and renewable energy are very ambitious and we have shared them – he adds – but without clear rules and tools. financial the energy transition risks remaining only statements of principle ».
The small size slows down costs and competitiveness
The sample survey this year involved 450 industrial companies in the Via Emilia (61% small, 31% medium and 6% large). The turning point in these weeks of easing of the epidemiological grip and resumption of traffic and inflation cannot, however, make us forget even in the resilient Emilia-Romagna that company under-sizing remains a discriminating factor from a competitive point of view. on investments confirms it: small businesses show greater criticalities than medium-large ones in all the items scanned and one (small) company out of five that did not make investments in 2020, due to the drop in turnover that led to revising the programs of investment.