Yesterday afternoon Enrico Pazzali, president of Fondazione Fiera Milano, unveiled the plaque dedicated to the Institute for Industrial Reconstruction (IRI). The Italian public holding company was established in 1933 and was dissolved in 2002, and played a prominent role in the country’s economic history. Today its name identifies the area in front of the Foundation’s headquarters in Milan.
 
For the occasion, interventions were made by the president of the Lombardy region Attilio Fontana, the mayor of Milan Giuseppe Sala, Romano Prodi, former president of IRI and former prime minister of Italy,  and Luigi Roth, first president of Fondazione Fiera Milano.

“Talking about industrial reconstruction in the historical moment we are experiencing is more appropriate than ever” declared Enrico Pazzali. “The entire international economic system must face a phase of total restart but also the reconstruction of a new future after the forced and prolonged stop caused by the pandemic that has changed our lives in recent months.”

President Pazzali then points out that “as Fiera di Milano we must do our part, taking back the role of industrial policy tool that has distinguished our work for so many decades. For 100 years, in fact, the Fair has been a very important driving force for the economy of our country: every year our pavilions generate revenues of 46.5 billion Euros for Italian exhibiting companies alone. The total contribution to GDP generated by “fair sales” is 53.7 billion Euros, equivalent to 3% of GDP in 2019. Without forgetting the impact that our activity has on the territory, on which about 8.2 billion Euros fall every year.”