Florence, May 15 (askanews) – After the so-called “spending revenge” of the post-covid period, Italian leather goods in 2024 recorded a drop in turnover of 1,2 billion, for a loss of 8,9% and a decline in industrial production of 23%. Faced with these very negative numbers, the role historically played by the States General of Leather Goods, organized by Assopellettieri in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, becomes even more important.
"We have the wars between Russia and Ukraine and in the Middle East, to which have now been added the tensions between India and Pakistan. We have - states Claudia Sequi president of Assopellettieri - a series of difficulties linked to the increase in the cost of raw materials, interest rates, energy, a whole macroeconomic situation that has hit our sector hard. What we can do as an association is to take a moment to reflect, to stop, to take a snapshot of what the situation is, to take a path of reflection, of comparison, to create a sort of vademecum that is useful to institutions, companies, workers".
During the morning, the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso intervened in a video message, underlining the work of the Government, focused on the Pmi Bill: "As MIMIT - Urso said - we have defined measures for approximately 250 million euros dedicated specifically to micro, small and medium-sized businesses in the fashion sector: of these, in particular, 100 million are dedicated to mini-development contracts that facilitate the aggregation of SMEs. We know how important the company size is to respond more effectively to the challenges of the global market, increasing the capacity for investment, innovation and international projection. Another important front on which MIMIT is committed is the valorization of specialized professionalism, increasingly difficult to find".
Assopellettieri not only provides a snapshot of the sector, but a whole series of valuable recommendations “so - specifies Sequi - that the supply chain is resilient, that it is competitive, that it is healthy, that it grows and that therefore this economic sustainability is the lever to face those enormous challenges that we must work on, which are legality, training, because we must attract and train new talents, we must integrate new technologies with our artisan know-how, we must provide training, there are many challenges that we have. We must help our companies to internationalize. What we want to do is a reflection all together also giving indications, suggestions, and this is our contribution because industrial policy is made all together. It is done with trade associations, with the Government and obviously each party must give its contribution”.
Italy remains the global point of reference in high quality leather goods with 4500 active companies equal to 30% of the European total.
Notizie.it editorial team