The GKN saga cast a shadow over the typical impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Tuscany. In an age where nationalism flirts with protectionism, the situation may have affected Invest in Tuscany’s ability to convince foreign companies to do just that.

However, regional president Eugenio Giani remains firm in his commitment to engage with foreign investors to generate innovation and new jobs. In today’s global economy “we need ideas, people and business to be able to move across borders”, he tells fDi. 

Q: Has your attitude towards foreign investment changed in the wake of the GKN crisis? 

A: Not at all. I believe that in a global economy based on innovation — on production processes that connect real-life experiences and research and development (R&D) — we need ideas, people and companies to move across borders.

Accordingly, it’s an asset for Tuscany to be home to more than 3000 foreign multinationals that employ almost 85,000 people. Many of these sow the seeds of innovation in our territory. In the fashion cluster, for example, the Kering group has regenerated an old property from the finance ministry in the outskirts of Florence that now employs 500 people. Louis Vuitton is developing a new site for the production of leather products in Pontassieve, also in the outskirts of Florence.

Then we have top-notch industrial projects in the area of Pisa, where foreign companies are bringing new, automated industrial processes. I see a lot of value in this.

Tuscany also offers small and medium-sized enterprises that can work with big multinationals. Take, for example, yacht builders in Livorno that work with local artisans to fit out their boats. 

Q: What is your R&D support scheme for companies interested in Tuscany?

A: We set aside €5m, which can go up to €10m if needed, to support foreign companies interested in carrying out R&D in Tuscany. Once inventors apply, the regional government will select those who will have the biggest impact on the local economy in terms of jobs creation, innovation and regeneration of brownfield industrial sites.  

Q: What are you doing to upgrade local talent and address the lingering feeling among investors that skills need to be updated? 

A: We are committed to strengthening the local education system, more recently through higher technological institutes and vocational programmes. We also have a memorandum of understanding with Rome to help job centres match offer and demand, while also helping the workers upskill. Through these interventions, we want to increase the quality to address any concern over talent availability.

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This article first appeared in the December 2023/January 2024 print edition of fDi Intelligence