Italy boasts a trade surplus of 44 billion and within the number in euros that indicates the positive difference between exported and imported goods, the contribution of Emilia-Romagna is equal to about two thirds of the total. Considering the quantity of industrial, gastronomic and artisan excellences present in the peninsula, the figure is even more astounding than the custom-built sculptures that until Sunday will adorn the court of the Palazzo Ducale in Modena and where today the inaugural ceremony for the fourth edition of the Motor Valley Fest with the theme “The Art of Innovation”.
Just after the institutional ribbon cutting, we deepened the phenomenon of an industrious and productive terroir like few others, with the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region Stefano Bonaccini who, already in the opening conference at the Pavarotti Theater, had focused on the tour of 5 billion a year business generated by the 16,500 companies involved in engines and mechanics. Specifically, the precious systemic value is composed of the work of 90,000 employees, the legendary contents of 12 thematic museums, 200 teams in motorsport and the attractiveness of 4 circuits hosting dozens of international competitions led by Superbike, MotoGP and Formula 1, they also lend a hand to tourism; a sector already prosperous and perky in itself thanks to gastronomy, landscapes and cultural heritage.
Accounts in hand in the export sector, the total sum of mechatronic, mechanical and motor engineering activities located in the region is equivalent to more than 50 percent of the approximately 29.9 billion euros of surplus attributed to Emilia-Romagna: “We can consider ourselves a locomotive of Italian exports also by virtue of the fact that in the last six years – says Bonaccini – we have been the first region for economic growth in the country. In 2021 we closed with a plus 6.9 percent on a par with Veneto and since the post-war period, thanks to manufacturing, we hold the record in terms of exports per capita which is approximately double the national average, and between the 1,000 and 2,000 euros more than a Venetian or a Lombard “.
However, the competitiveness generated by the mechatronics industry (followed in the region by agri-food, fashion, ceramics and bio-medical) can no longer be considered a permanent status quo. For certain companies and especially for some jobs, electrification looms like an ax and if McKinsey analysts foresee a golden decade for luxury car manufacturers, many mechanical specializations (and therefore employment contracts) risk disappearing: “At the conference I have not talked about the 90,000 random jobs – continues the President of the Emilia-Romagna Region – and I think it is appropriate to re-discuss the terms of the ecological transition with the European Union. If houses like Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, Dallara and Ducati have the capacity, the physique, the size and the resources to sustain such a drastic and accelerated change, unfortunately this is not the case for the thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises born around the internal combustion engine components. We need to make sure that the transition to electric does not create a loss of employment. Waiting for new dialogues with European institutions – concludes Bonaccini – we have already been active for some time with the aim of preserving our human capital both by accompanying companies with European funds destined for digital, sustainability, innovation and internationalization, and through the specializations of Motor Vehicle University of Emilia-Romagna “. Academic institute made up of four universities and all the great names of the Motor Valley which, throughout the weekend, will delight the artistic squares of Modena with timeless masterpieces shaped by mechanics, science and design.