Webuild CEO Pietro Salini: Texas High-Speed Rail mega contract a boost for Italian infrastructure supply chain

MILAN, June 16, 2021 - 'With the signing of this high-speed rail contract by Webuild in Texas, the benefits for the Italian supply chain have already started to show themselves, such as assigning Italferr (Gruppo FS) the task of doing the executive design for the project. In Italy, we work with 7,000 businesses on the main projects that we are developing. So it has to do with expanding an organisation that collaborates with us on the construction of the most important infrastructure projects in the world, including those in the United States,' said Webuild Chief Executive Pietro Salini during an interview on the Focus Economia programme of the Radio 24 radio station. Valued at $16 billion, the contract is to build a high-speed railway between Dallas and Houston, which Salini says will provide a boost to the Italian supply chain and create jobs.

Webuild will be responsible for the civil works of the project, namely the design and construction of the 379 kilometres (236 miles) of railway, the viaducts, the buildings and services for maintenance and other equipment, industrial buildings, train depots and facilities. 'The Dallas-Houston high-speed railway will completely transform mobility between the two cities in this wealthy region whose GDP (gross domestic product) is equal to 80-90% of Italy's. The train will prove to be a major benefit for at least 100,000 people - known as super commuters - who travel between the two cities by car or air every week. It is also expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 101,000 tons per year. By 2050, approximately 13 million people who live in the region served by the train will use this new means of transportation.'

The Texas project stands to benefit from Webuild's experience in the sector. In Italy, the Group is working on high-speed railways between Genoa and Milan, Verona and Padua, and Naples and Bari. It is also working on a more traditional line between Messina-Catania and Palermo. 'We are making a big effort, but the speed at which public tenders are being made is running up against the intricacies of the procurement code. Today, we need to start putting something on the ground, or at least start to do it, making the most of a new decree designed to simplify bureaucratic procedures. This is a top priority because, in an economic crisis where there is a need to create jobs, it becomes more urgent to build infrastructure rather than just talk about it. I am fighting so that - above all else - we can all be concrete and pragmatic. We are making available resources and supervising management during the construction phase. In Italy, public works are often slowed down due to a lack of financing in addition to inefficiencies in the authorisation process. So we need to overcome this obstacle without waiting for funds from the PNRR (National Plan of Recovery and Resilience) to be assigned to the planned projects. To move ahead with projects means increasing the GDP for the year and bringing forward the relative effect of the PNRR on employment.'

This is a new, joint commitment that must be taken to address with greater determination the scourge of unemployment, especially among the youth in southern Italy. 'I am optimistic and hope that the PNRR will come to represent a stimulus for innovation and sustainable infrastructure, creating jobs and finally integrating the south so it can start believing in the future again and invest. We want to do our part, such as training highly specialized technical professionals that are needed for the sector. Our Group is collaborating with a number of universities and investing in preparing professional figures of the future with a master's programme and internships alongside our managers. We are launching a recruitment programme for 100 young people in southern Italy. We also looking at an awards programme named after our late chairman, Alberto Giovannini. It is a programme with a focus on innovation and the digitalisation of the infrastructure sector to support talent that will work with us in the world in the coming years,' he said.