L' intervento di Paolo Calcagnini, Vice Direttore Generale di CDP

Good morning, good morning, and thank you. I believe it would be important to start by asking why territorial proximity matters. Previous speakers reminded us of the number of locations we are opening: we've reached 14 and will reach 21. They told us about the success these openings have brought. Perhaps it's worth reflecting on why we are doing this. If we limited CDP's role to financing, we probably could not do it without a territorial presence. What is the meaning of territorial presence? We see it with infrastructure operators and public entities. CDP provides much more than financing; it has built support capabilities for infrastructure implementation—teams of engineers and project finance experts who offer free services to public administration for planning, tendering, and realizing infrastructure. This is a qualifying element that presupposes proximity to the territory; it couldn't be otherwise, as it would be difficult to do from hundreds of kilometers away. And it can do this with integrated support, because the value of integration between these support services and traditional services—though there is much innovation even in project finance and public entity financing, which has always been CDP's typical role—today must undergo even greater acceleration. That's why integrated support requires territorial proximity and explains why we are here today to open this regional office. It's not that we waited for the opening to act. I want to share some numbers: in the last two years, we have made almost 140 million euros in new financing. Last year, in the report to the Board, we renegotiated nearly half a billion euros in past disbursements to free up resources for public administrations. And there are almost 80 entities in the region that are already beneficiaries of CDP's financing. In short, we didn't wait for the opening to help; obviously, we expect the opening to be a major accelerator for these types of interventions. Now, to give concrete form to what I've said, I am pleased to show you a video about a municipality in the Marche region, Sant'Elpidio a Mare, where what I've described has begun to take shape.

It is clear that delivering this set of solutions again requires proximity to businesses, continuous access to entrepreneurs, access to trade associations, and the support of Confindustria. Being here is a factor that will contribute significantly to putting into practice all the capabilities we have developed. Here too, some numbers: I'll mention only a few. In the last two years, we have disbursed over 600 million euros in financing in the Marche region. That means almost two thousand companies have been reached by CDP instruments, both directly and indirectly, both through growth loans and, unfortunately, through financing for COVID emergency support. These are already important numbers, and clearly there is ample room for growth. Our ambition is to become partners of companies in the region, not limiting ourselves to the role of pure financiers. Here is a testimony of this role that I would like to share through a video about excellence in the Marche region on which we have worked very effectively.

So in conclusion, I really want to emphasize that we are much more than a pure financier. We do that too, but the value of coming into contact with CDP is much broader. Our hope is that this office will allow us to do that much more extensively than we have done so far.