Webuild’s Massimo Ferrari on Class CNBC: Recovery Plan must invest in infrastructure and road maintenance to create jobs plan should start with ready projects like Messina Strait Bridge

MILAN, April 7, 2021 - Italy should look to create jobs and give a boost to the economy by investing in infrastructure and road maintenance under a coordinated programme that considers the funds from the Recovery Plan as additional to those that the country already has at its disposal, said Massimo Ferrari, General Manager Corporate and Finance at Webuild, during an interview on business television channel Class CNBC about the measures to be adopted to overcome the crisis, revive the economy and modernise the country.

April will be a decisive month for the presentation of the Recovery Plan to Brussels, the seat of the European Commission. 'It is in the interest of the country to invest in sectors like infrastructure for sustainable mobility and healthcare. Italy has a debt that is expanding quickly partly due to anti-cyclical measures taken to fight the pandemic. So it is important to support the GDP (gross domestic product) with shock measures that can kick-start the economy and get it to grow over the long term. Let us remember that infrastructure has a very high multiplier effect, greater than 1.3. It is able to create employment and spur economic growth. The government knows that we can finance all the infrastructure that Italy needs, whether it be with domestic or European funds. We can finance not only big projects but also those in sectors like social housing, hospitals and prisons. We travel every day on a network of old roads that need to be repaired immediately. And it can be done in a centralised manner with the use of a general contractor that can guarantee work for dozens of businesses across the country, finish the job on time and on budget and make travel safer for people.'

'(Our priority) should be to provide jobs instead of relief measures that will always be partial and insufficient for a recovery. Relaunching infrastructure projects should start with the planning of new works but also activating those that are ready to go, such as the bridge over the Strait of Messina. In Sicily, the country is planning 8,000 kilometres of railways, so the bridge would be their natural extension towards Calabria and northern Italy. The project for the bridge was approved years ago by all the institutions. It can start in four months, creating employment and value for the supply chain that works with us throughout Italy.'

In order to manage tenders in a quicker way like other European countries do, Italy should adopt the European code. It guarantees competition and transparency, just as we saw during the construction of the Genova San Giorgio Bridge by our Group in record time. The country became 'more European' by setting aside its own code for this one. If 2020 saw the Group shift its centre of gravity towards Italy with the acquisition of Astaldi as part of the Progetto Italia industrial operation, Webuild remains an international company. In the United States, where the Biden administration recently announced a $2-trillion investment plan, the Group 'is following many highway projects and there is the signing of the contract to build a high-speed railway in Texas that is worth for us nearly $14 billion. Our ambition is that this is the beginning of a new opportunity in the country with our U.S. subsidiary Lane.'

Webuild keeps looking for new opportunities on continents where it has a presence, including Australia, 'where we have big projects and where we are looking at increasing our presence. We also look at the excellence found among businesses in Italy that could give a boost to our Group's scale.' Apart from the topic of mergers and acquisitions, the Group aims to follow its strategy of growing organically in the coming three years. 'We have in our backlog contracts in Libya that could become active. We are ready to start in the event that the truce endures and guarantees safety for our workers.'