CNA Council, exports fell by 3.4% in the first quarter of 2024

Lombardy is asserting itself as the driving region of Italian growth, but there is one fact that worries the region’s businesses somewhat: exports, which in the first quarter of 2024 registered a worrying decline of 3.4% compared to the same period in 2023.

It is true that compared to the values ​​obtained in 2019, Lombardy’s exports are +28%, but the sudden drop in the first three months of this year cannot leave businessmen and companies indifferent. The reasons for this decline certainly lie in the stagnation of the German economy, in the geopolitical tensions of the Eurasian bloc and in the tensions existing in the “widened Mediterranean”.

These are some of the data that emerged during the Cna Lombardia Council in the presence of the President of the Lombardy Region Attilio Fontana, the Economic Development Councilor of the Lombardy Region Guido Guidizzi, the President of the PD Group in the Chamber of Deputies Chiara Braga, the University Councilor for Research and Innovation of the Lombardy Region Alessandro Verme, the President of Confindustria Como Gianluca Brenna, the Professor of Economic Policy at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Milan Raoul Caruso, from the President of the Cna Nazionale Dario Costantini and the President of the Cna Lombardia Giovanni Bozzini.

An annual event, organized by Cna Lombardia, with the aim of focusing attention on current issues of Lombardy and the national economy, while obtaining as complete a picture as possible of the future of SMEs. Among the main topics that emerged during the meeting was that related to sustainability, which remains one of the main points of focus that artisan companies are asked to commit to in the coming years.

“The topic of sustainability has always been central in our dialogue with candidates in the European elections – highlights the President of CNA Lombardia Giovanni Bozzini -. As always, CNA Lombardia has expressed a high position in terms of ends, and realistic in terms of means. And on various topics such as the House Green, Sustainable Finance, Vehicle Air Emissions We have always been in favor of a significant but also sustainable reduction due to the scalability and impacts on employment values.”

International cooperation and thus the relationship with Europe is fundamental to the overall development and growth of craft businesses. Greater cohesion among EU countries would bring not only economic benefits, but also environmental and social benefits.

“The Department of Economic Development of the Lombardy Region has become the cornerstone of the organized lobbying action shared by Lombardy stakeholders in Brussels – says Bozzini -. Cna Lombardia supports this action institutionally and in fact expects that political parties, overcoming partisan opposition, will always find a way to rally around the main community files of regional interest. Relations with the European Commission and the European Parliament are fundamental precisely to reiterate the request for gradual adoption of measures on sustainability specifically designed for SMEs.

Direct discussion with representatives of Lombard companies as confirmed by the Secretary of Cna Lombardia Stefano Benda who emphasized how “through the Council, Cna Lombardia wanted to stimulate discussion between experts and political representatives of different orientations and institutional levels – the University, the Lombardy Region, the Parliament. These are the places where it will work.” In which those who will discuss formally with expertise in the areas of environment, social inclusion, gender equality and the digital transition, it is time for sustainability in the broad sense, even in the “geopolitical” sense, in light of the multiple tensions that exist at the planetary level.

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