« The Sardinian business system has great unexpressed potential : if we were able, in terms of productivity, to bring it closer to the national average, we would recover 10 points of GDP, or 4 billion euros, and 9 would be billions of GDP if we aligned ourselves with the border efficiency of the northern regions".

This is what we read in the report "Strategic scenarios for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises at the time of the PNRR" released this morning by Cna Sardegna: an analysis to take stock of the island's economy, pointing out critical issues and possible improvement strategies .

THE INDICATORS – The data contained in the dossier make us reflect on the gaps faced by island companies and entrepreneurs.

"The last twenty years - underlines Cna - recorded the failure of cohesion policies and convergence with the most dynamic areas of the country and Europe also remains unrealized".

To better provide the picture, the report provides eloquent indicators:

  • With the growth expected in 2023 (+0.8%) Sardinia does not recover the pre-pandemic levels of wealth produced
  • The share of Sardinian manufacturing exports on GDP, net of the oil sector, is 3.8%, while the national average is 28% and that of the South is 13%
  • The manufacturing sector, decisive for promoting and spreading innovation, weighs just 5.7%, against the national average of 16.6% and 11% in the South
  • In the relationship between added value and hours worked, Sardinia is third last in Italy, with just 30 euros per hour worked, compared to the national average of 37 euros
  • In relation to GDP, the weight and incidence of the PA is 30%, against 19% of the national average
  • In terms of the quality of the institutional/administrative context, the island shows a gap of over 10 percentage points with respect to the already deficient Italian situation, 39 points with respect to the average of the regions of northern Italy. Only 10% of European regions show an index lower than that of Sardinia

UNEXPRESSED POTENTIAL – Yet, as mentioned at the outset, the potential is enormous. On the basis of the analysis of company financial statements carried out by the Study Center of the Sardinian Cna, the system of Sardinian companies could in fact increase its added value, with the same production costs and hours worked, by about 25% if it operated in an optimal manner .

On balance, this is about 8/9 billion euros of increased GDP (at 2019 prices) obtainable by investing in the improvement of production processes, technology, organization and management models.

Even compared to the national average, the margins for improvement are clear: about 10 percentage points of GDP missing (3/4 billion euro).

KEY SECTORS – The sectors that have the greatest potential/growth opportunities, against an investment aimed at improving the efficiency of the production process, are the construction sector, which at the moment ranks among the least performing in the world. national level, especially in its component of specialized works (e.g. plant engineering, building finishing works). «In practice – the report points out -, it is estimated that the Sardinian construction sector, approaching the efficient frontier, could improve its output by as much as 42%.

But also in the tourist-accommodation sector the margins for improvement are enormous (+34% potential increase), while for the agro-industrial sector the size of the efficiency gap is around +35%. Things are a little better in the transport sector , although the margins for improvement remain significant (+15%).

«20 YEARS OF FAILURE» – «Twenty years of failure in cohesion policies – comment Luigi Tomasi and Francesco Porcu, respectively president and regional secretary of CNA Sardinia – imposes choices of radical discontinuity with respect to the past on the great “structural reforms”. Sharing between political forces is needed to make planning and development policies effective in the medium-long term».

«The legislature - I add Tomasi and Porcu - should conclude in an orderly and useful manner by approving the measures for which there is specific financial coverage - urgent in order not to risk not using the resources of the PNRR restore operationality to the regional administrative machinery, covering the gaps in the technical direction of strategic departments and of the Regional Planning Centre".

THE PNRR – A great opportunity is, of course, the National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

"To relaunch Sardinia's productivity with a view to modernization, digitization and sustainability, an important role, a great opportunity will be provided in the coming years by the PNRR ", continue Tomasi and Porcu.

According to the projects presented, the resources potentially allocated to Sardinia are approximately 3.6 billion, corresponding to 2.4% of the resources planned at the national level (149 billion): in relation to the population, this is approximately 2,300 euros per inhabitant, a decidedly lower figure than the average of the southern regions (3,000 euros) and which positions the island in sixth from last place in the regional classification».

«Analysing the data on the projects presented on the island - continues the Cna dossier - it emerges how in Sardinia digital issues are considered strategic by local administrations. Specifically, these are 1,582 projects (out of a total of 3,620), for an expected expenditure of 611 million, aimed at driving the process of modernization of the PA system, promoting the digitization of businesses and promoting the digital culture in society . Their weight is equal to 17% in terms of expected amount, a figure which places the Island in third place among the Italian regions, behind only Valle d'Aosta and Molise (in numerical terms the weight is even greater, the 33.3%, a figure lower only than that recorded in Valle d'Aosta)».

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