TheSouthern district’s attraction

factorsof the province of Caltanissetta

Realized by Sviluppo Italia S.p.A

List of topics

The articulation of the productive identity

The Territory The infrastructural System: practicability, port and airports Social and economic aspects The human capital and the knowledge system Incentives Takeover opportunities Swot analysis

The competitive’s potential

Competitive positioning’s analysis

FOCUS Areas: Marketing Planning (PMK) and operations planning

GELA

The territory

The district of Gela’s PIT (Integrated Territorial Projects) comprises the municipalities of Butera, Niscemi, Mazzarino and Gela and it stretches to the Southern area of the province of Caltanissetta.The area is characterized by Gela’s plain which, together with the one of Catania, represents one of the most important flat lands in the island, crossed by the Gela, Disueri and Comunelli rivers. The municipalities of Niscemi, Butera and Mazzarino are located on hilly landscapes surrounding the plain of Gela.

The infrastructural system: roads and railways

The area of Gela totals over 1,600 Km of roads (900 km inside the towns and 700 km outside them) and it is connected to the rest of Sicily by means of highways and by a thick net of trunk roads branching from them.

The railways of the district and of the whole province branch off from the Caltanissetta-Gela main line and total 132 km of railways, 38% of which electrified.

The main railway lines are:Gela-Ragusa-Modica-Siracusa Gela-Licata-Canicattì-Caltanissetta-PalermoGela-Caltagirone-Catania.

The infrastructural system: the port

The port of Gela is located on the Southern shore of Sicily, and it consists of two separate parts: Porto Isola, used as a trading port, and Porto Rifugio, for fishing boats and as a marina, both II Category III Class.

Distance from other Mediterranean ports: Donnalucata 29 miles; Licata 15.5 miles; Malta - La Valletta 72 miles (for 172°); Mazara del Vallo 90 miles; Porto Empedocle 38 miles; Pozzallo 39 miles; Sciacca 65 miles; Scoglitti 14 miles

The infrastructural system: the airports

Currently the territory of the province is served, like all the other provinces in Sicily, by the “Filippo Eredia” Airport of Catania-Fontanarossa, approximately 130 km away from Caltanissetta, and by the “Falcone-Borsellino” Airport of Palermo-Punta Raisi, approximately 120 km away from Caltanissetta. The new Comiso’s airport is just opened, located about 40 km away from the Municipalities of Niscemi and Gela, 60 km away from Butera, and about 70 km away from Mazzarino.

Social and economic aspects:the population

The structural index of the active population, measuring the ageing of the working population, as the ratio between the oldest (40-64 y.o.) and the youngest (15-39 y.o.) workers, shows lower values for the district of the PIT municipalities, highlighting a relatively younger population in the working age as compared to the demographic structures of the province and of the region.

The turnover index of the population in their working age, given by the ratio between those who are going to retire (60-64 y.o.) and those who are going to enter the labour market (15-19 y.o.), shows a significantly lower value for the districts of the municipalities of Gela’s PIT, thus highlighting that the demographic structure is potentially more favourable to economic initiatives.

Social and economic aspects:labour

The District’s manufacturing industry index, measured as the share of workers employed in the industrial sector out of the total economic activities of the territory, is very remarkable. It is over 30% higher than the alike provincial index (30.84 vs. 22.02), over 70% higher than the regional datum (17.96) and practically in line with the Italian one (32.34).

(Based on the data analysis of the eight General census of industry and services – ISTAT 2001)

Social and economic aspects:Enterprises

The industrial cluster headed by the Consorzio ASI in Gela counts 52 working plants, 45 assigned plants, and 15 under construction, with 741 actual employees, and 1438 estimated ones, following the start up of the plants that have been assigned plots or that are going to finalize the construction works of the industrial plants.

Social and economic aspects:Enterprises (continued)

Of the working plants: 4 are in the food production business 1 is in the textile sector 1 is in the wood and wooden products sector 2 deal with coke production, oil refining, nuclear fuels processing (bottling of liquefied

hydrocarbons and production of bituminous conglomerates and cementites) 5 produce rubber and plastic materials (plastic material processing, production of

recycled plastic pellets, production of plastic tanks and cans, plastic materials stamping, plastic material production and recycling)

5 make products obtained from non-metalliferous mineral processing 10 produce metals and alloys and produce and process metal products 8 manufacture machines and mechanical equipment 2 deal with construction and cabling of electric panels and with electronic components

production 3 make furniture and also deal with recovery and preparation for recycling

The Chemical Center of Gela mostly supplies raw materials and semi-finished products: acetonytrile, acrylonytrile, ethylene, polyethylene, ammonic sulphate and chemical products: polyethylene, resins and thermoplastic systems.

The Human Capital and the knowledge system

In 2005 almost 10,000 new registrations and 1,200 graduates resident in the province of Caltanissetta could be found in the Universities of Palermo, Catania, Messina, the University Center of the province of Caltanissetta and the rest of Italy.

Students in engineering represent 11% of the educational demand, counting almost 1000 registrations, comparable to those studying economics and the interdisciplinary clusters of mathematics, physics and natural sciences, and medicine, surgery and pharmacy.

Incentives

Law 266/97, provides for automatic incentives, granted as tax bonuses, for enterprises making investments

Law 140/97, grants tax credits as a percentage out of the amount of expenses borne for industrial R&D activities

Law 488/92, provides for incentives without security and with a soft loan for enterprises making productive investments in the manufacturing, service, and tourism sectors

Law 181/89, provides for incentives without security and with soft loans for enterprises making productive investments, and also for a fixed-term shareholding in the company’s capital by Sviluppo Italia

A localization contract, aimed at foreign companies operating in the sectors of manufacturing, service, tourism, and energy production from renewable sources, and intending to set up new plants (green field investments) or to enlarge/modernize/ reconvert/re-start already existing ones (brown field investments).

Fiscal incentives and other for the areas “Free trade zone” that will are identified in Gela’s municipality.

Takeover Opportunities

Gela Industrial Area Area for industrial settlements: 126 ha divided into three clusters

(North 1; North-East; North 2) currently all in the territory of Gela Managing authority: Consorzio ASI of Gela The clusters are all equipped with the main servicing infrastructures

(roads, drinkable and industrial water supply, anti-fire network, purifier, fences, 20 KW energy supply network, methane gas internal supply)

Main typologies of industrial settlements present: engineering and petrochemical. Total area for industrial plots: 94 ha

Area immediately available for new settlements: 9 ha in the North 2) cluster

Plots mean price: € 2.67 + VAT per sq m In order to buy the lots a formal request to the Consorzio ASI is

necessary, accompanied by all back-up documents and written as per forms provided by the Consorzio ASI itself.

Takeover

Opportunities (continued)

PIP Area /Municipality of Butera Area for production settlements: 60 ha, entirely allotted to industrial

lots, 45 of which already assigned, covering a total area of about 55 ha Managing authority: Municipality of Butera (SUAP) These clusters are equipped with the following infrastructural services:

roads, drinkable and industrial water supply, anti-fire network, fences, energy supply network; under construction: purifier, methane gas supply network

Main typology of industrial settlement in the area: agro-food Surface available: 15 ha Maximum acquirable plot: 20,000 sq m Plot mean price: € 2.67 + VAT per sq m In order to buy the lots a formal request to the Municipality of Butera is

necessary, using the forms provided by the SUAP/Sportello Unico Attività Produttive (Single Desk for Production Activities) issued by the same Municipal administration.

Takeover Opportunities (continued)

Mazzarino’s Industrial zoneArea for production settlements: 96.871 mq, entirely allotted to industrial lots, currently to assign (29 available lots)Managing authority : Municipality of MazzarinoThese clusters will be equipped with the following infrastructural service: roads, drinkable and industrial water supply, anti-fire network, fences, energy supply network, purifier, parkings.Maximum acquirable plot: 6.300 mq.Plot mean price: to establishIn order to buy the lost a formal request to the Municipality of Mazzarino addressed to SUAP (Sportello Unico Attività Produttive/ Single Desk for Production Activities) issued by the same Municipal administration.

SWOT Analysis

Strong Points Weak points

• Being located in the center of the Mediterranean basin

• Local production fabric is mainly micro in size

• Expanding industrial areas with availability of plots of land equipped with all necessary utilities

• Insufficient levels of public expenditure and of private investments in R&D

• Proximity to new Catania international airport (45 minutes)

• Difficulty in accessing the credit and capital markets, and lack of specialized operators in venture capital

• Central positioning vis-à-vis 4 production clusters : Riesi (clothing) ; Catania (electronics) ; Ragusa (agro-food); Valguarnera (textile)

• Poorly diversified economy strongly depending on the dynamics of the petrochemical plants

• Young demographic structure and availability of educated human resources

• Too slow administrative procedures

• Availability of skilled labour force • Presence of phenomena of criminal infiltration in the legal economy (mafia)

• Presence of widespread culture and of entrepreneurial and industrial culture

• Presence of a recently established and growing University center

• Presence of various young graduates in MST coherent with the requirements of professionalism requested by the production fabric and by industrial research

• Availability of facilitating tools for the establishment of new production plants

SWOT Analysis (continued)

Opportunities Menaces

• As of 2010, access to the free trade area in the Mediterranean basin

• Reduction in financial incentives for investments and hiring

• Development of inter-modal transportations and increase in sea-borne transportation of goods

• Impoverishment of the social fabric due to an upsurge in the migration phenomenon

• Development and re-positioning of Gela’s port in the framework of the development of maritime transportation

• Rerouting of mercantile traffics from Asia and from the East in favour of Spain, Greece and the region of Apulia (Italy)

• Link with the European Corridor I (Gela - Catania freeway to be doubled soon)

SWOT Analysis (continued)

Opportunities Menaces

• Re-industrialization and conversion of the Chemical center towards fine chemistry and eco-sustainable impact productions

• Increased civil awareness towards criminality

• Start-up in Sicily of the technological districts in the micro- and nano- system sectors, in ship transportation and in the agro-industrial sector

• Improvement and development actions of the road infrastructures: Catania-Siracusa; Siracusa-Ragusa-Gela; Catania-Gela

The competitive’s potential: The macro variables of the competitive advantage

Central position in the mediterranean area in respect to the marine traffic on the routes East-West and the North-south

Presence of industrial areas in expansion; Proximity to 3 international airports; Proximity to 4 productive poles: Riesi (Textile); Catania (Electronic); Ragusa

(Alimentary field); Valguernera (Textile) Young and dynamic demographic structure with a low incidence of the

members of old population Availability of equipped human resources of scholastic instruction Availability of specialized force job Presence of diffused entrepreneurial and industrial culture Presence of an university Pole in strong expansion in the province of

Caltanissetta Availability on the territory of financial incentives for the start-up of new

entrepreneurial initiatives Availability of areas of infrastructural productive takeover (utilities) An infrastructural system easy and improved continuously

Competitive positioning’s analysis

Investments of type A (mature): typically they make reference to initiatives which involved component of labour intensive. In the district of Gela they can be identified with the agricultural productions.

Investments of type B (which can demand meant costs on capital account and with production processes standardizes and repetitive) and of type D (which make reference to initiatives that are characterized from distintive technologies of product) can be found in the petrochemical field.

Investments of type C (specialized): The strongest productive segments present in the territory are represented from the agricultural and alimentary field (like the wine) and from the tourism. The territory's offer can be facilitated from the synergy that can be realized with the enterprises that operate in these field.

Individuazione FOCUS

Attraction of the foreign investments

Valorization of the local system

Tourism 5 4

Agricultural and alimentary industry 5 3

Small and averages local enterprises (PMI) 3 5

The fields evidence to you are those on which

it is more convenient to concentrate itself: tourism; Agricultural/Alimentary; Local PMI.

Marketing Planning (PMK) and operations Planning

PMK

FIELDS

STRATEGIC FOCUS

PARTICIPATION LINES

ACTIONS

Tourism

Art/A

rchae

ology

En

vironm

ent

Bu

siness

SLOT ACTION (Local System Tourist Offer)

Ag

ricultu

ral/ W

ine

Ho

rticultu

re

Fa

rm H

olid

ays

Loca

l PM

I

Syste

m actio

ns

Agricultural

AlimentaryPMI