Procince of Lodi
| Lodi’s Biocentre and University make the province a focus for research and development |
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stablished
in 1995, Lodi,
to the south-east of Milan, is the youngest of Lombardy’s provinces.
Its strategic position, close to the region’s main business hub,
means infrastructure is good, with excellent road and air links to Milan
and beyond. The provincial capital is the city of Lodi which is already
tuned in to European business and academic networks.
There is an extensive knowledge base among
the 196,000 residents. Lodi is an important research and development
centre for agriculture, biotechnology and food safety. It is also home
to the Veterinary Medicine Faculty of the State University
of Milan.
The most important sectors of the economy
are agriculture, milk production, manufacturing, education, arts and
crafts, banking and IT. Big corporate names include Banca Popolare di
Lodi (banking), which has a representative branch in London, and Zucchetti
(software and IT).
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Lodi’s
President, Lorenzo Guerini,
believes the province is a natural extension for Milan’s growth,
with plenty of room for expansion and the necessary skills to handle
increased development. He thinks it is important for the local authorities
to work closely with the private sector and the academic community.
One current project is the creation of a new business park to act as
a kind of company incubator, harnessing the province’s strong research
and technical expertise. “We have always tried to carry on this
co-operation,” he says.
The province offers a high quality of life,
with a beautiful natural environment, a rich culture and artistic treasures
galore. Mr Guerini says the province needs more new companies to inject
fresh dynamism. This means new investments, an entrepreneurial culture
and additional resources. “New relations with foreign networks
must be established for research, for example, with other European technology
parks.”
Francesco Ferrari, President of the Lodi
Chamber of Commerce, which is also involved in the business park initiative,
believes the synergy created between the public and private sectors
will bring important new benefits to the area. The emergence of Lodi
as an independent province, with its own administration, has injected
a new momentum into the development of the local economy. He says: “We
have an ancient history, a knowledge that has always been protected,
we have grown under the aegis of an entrepreneurial culture and we are
now making institutional efforts towards our development goals.
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