Abstract
The present report has been drawn up under the responsibility of the C-Log (Research Center on Logistics) of the Carlo Cattaneo-LIUC University in Castellanza (Varese, Italy) and is based upon an in-depth analysis of the logistics and freight transportation sectors in four Southern Italy regions: Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Calabria. Southern Italy or Mezzogiorno is the traditional term used for the Southern regions of Italy, usually encompassing the island of Sicily, which has not been included in this study. In Southern Italy, transportation and logistics companies work in a very challenging environment, characterized by many difficulties: long term growth of GDP significantly lower, on average, than at the national level (-13,3% between 2008 and 2013); an industrial production stalled at only 9% of the value added produced in Italy (compared to a much higher share for population); a very high unemployment rate, which has reached 23,3% in 2014 (more than 45% among the young population). The only positive remark, the expansion of exports (+6,8% between 2010 and 2014), destined for more than 70% to the European countries, and for another 10% to the Mediterranean region. For the four regions ameliorating accessibility has to do with both the improvement of infrastructure and services on long-distance corridors, as well as a better access to nodes such as ports, airports and intermodal platforms. More importantly, Southern Italy suffers also from important limitations in road and rail inter-regional connections, in particular between Campania and Apulia and between Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria. Historically, the orographic configuration of the internal territories of these regions has been one of the major obstacles limiting the integration among them. Improving road connections between, for instance, Bari and Brindisi on one side, and Matera, Potenza on the other, as well as with the port of Gioia Tauro in Calabria, would positively affect the capacity of a larger and larger number of small and medium enterprises located in this area to cooperate effectively with each other. If Southern Italy is considered as one of the peripheral regions as far as continental Europe is concerned, when looking at the Mediterranean area, the situation is reversed. In fact, it becomes one of the more central areas, closely located to the most important maritime intercontinental routes crossing the Mediterranean sea from East to West, as well as the short sea shipping services linking the shores of North Africa, Near East, Southern Europe and the Balkans. In this context, the main ports of Apulia, Calabria and Campania play a quite large variety of roles, ranging from transshipment in Gioia Tauro, Taranto and Cagliari to commercial at intercontinental level in Naples and Salerno and to Short Sea Shipping services in Bari and Brindisi. In the near future, however, the most challenging proof not only for ports, but also for the overall transport and logistics service system of the four regions is represented by their capacity to take full advantage of the opportunities for economic development through trade with the high growing neighbor countries, especially in the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, from Turkey to Egypt. This would imply expanding and strengthening transport services and infrastructure both within and between the Mediterranean partner countries and also between the four regions and the European Union.