His origins, on his father's side, are in another island, Sicily, and now he arrives in Sardinia for the first time as CEO of UniCredit. Born and raised in Rome, but with a long professional experience in London, Andrea Orcel, 59, is described as a very competitive manager but also very attentive to innovation and the final result. Since taking the reins of UniCredit, he has insisted a lot on simplifying processes and enhancing the relationship with customers and will be on the island for an important initiative.
Dr. Orcel, this is the first time you have visited Sardinia as the CEO of UniCredit. We know that you are working on an initiative to enhance the opportunities of the Special Economic Zones for the South and for Sardinia.
“We have made available a 1 billion ceiling for companies that want to invest in the 8 Italian Zes. In the coming days here in Sardinia we will sign an agreement with Commissioner Zes with the aim of acting as a financial partner for companies that want to invest in the region. The ZES have established themselves in the world as tools for attracting investments and in other nations they have acted as a strong driver for development. For this reason, like UniCredit, we look at this issue with great interest, because they can relaunch the competitiveness of the territories and favor the reduction of the gaps between different areas of the country ".
Sardinia had a boom this summer, as did other regions, on the tourism front: from your observatory do you think this trend will continue or has it affected the post-pandemic?
«I am not surprised by the boom in Sardinia, we are talking about a magnificent land. The tourism sector has suffered a major setback due to the pandemic but it is a crucial sector for the economy of the country and the region. Precisely to support the relaunch we were the first bank in Italy to adhere to the Convention signed between the Ministry of Tourism, CDP and ABI and we will soon be able to grant subsidized loans for energy redevelopment, environmental sustainability and digital innovation of the sector's structures. I would like to say that all the conditions are in place for this year's boom to repeat itself in the future, but to achieve this result, companies will have to invest to improve competitiveness and create synergy with other leading sectors in the region ».
