On the afternoon of the opening day of the 65th Genoa International Boat Show, the Forum25 Programme hosted a plethora of conferences dedicated to the most strategic driving factors for the industry.
The conference The Sea That Matters: A Dialogue on the Italian Boating Sector was held in the Sala Ponente of the new Palasport Pavilion, during which the volume Diporto Nautico in Italia – Anno 2024, edited by the Directorate-General for Digitalisation of the Italian Ministry for Infrastructure and Transport, was presented. Speakers included Patrizia Scarchilli (Director General for the sea, maritime transport and inland waterways), Daniele Lazzaretti (Head of the Statistics Office – Directorate-General for Digitalisation), together with the General Command of the Port Authority Corps – Italian Coast Guard.
As an insightful moment at the 65th edition of the Genoa International Boat Show, national Italian newspaper QN Quotidiano Nazionale presented “Pioneering From Within The System: The Future of Boating, From Liguria to Italy, an event that is part of the QN Distretti cycle focusing on the boating industry and the sea economy as strategic assets for growth, employment, and innovation. Introduced by Davide Nitrosi (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of QN), and moderated by Agnese Pini (Director of QN, il Resto del Carlino, La Nazione, Il Giorno), the conference was attended by Edoardo Rixi (Deputy Minister for Infrastructures and Transport), Marco Bucci (President of the Liguria Region), Silvia Salis (Genoa Mayor), and Piero Formenti (President of the Italian Marine Industry Association), with a focus on infrastructures, local competitiveness, and development trajectories from Liguria to the country system.
In the second panel, An industrial excellence for competitiveness: the boating industry and Italian companies, speakers included Marcello Demeglio (Marketing Manager Cloud & AI, TIM Enterprise) and Marina Stella (General Manager, Confindustria Nautica): the focus was on digitalisation, advanced services and the international positioning of the supply chain, between product and process innovation.
The third panel, Leadership and Innovation: the value of the boating industry for Italy’, saw the participation of Giancarlo Galeone (President of FARO Value) with a discussion on investments, industrial governance and strategies to consolidate sustainable leadership in global markets.
The fourth and last panel of the day, Innovating in the name of prosperity: the sector’s value for the territory, involved Carolina Lonetti (Director of Export and Facilitated Finance, SIMEST), Silvia Massaro (Business Director, SACE), Stefano Pagani Isnardi (Director of the Research Department of the Italian Marine Industry Association), and Luigi Zanti (Regional Director of Liguria and Piedmont, BPER Banca). Key topics included exports, financial instruments for growth, impact on employment and allied industries, environmental and social sustainability.
The conference highlighted the challenges and opportunities that the Boating Districts will have to face in the next few years. Thanks to the contribution of experts and industry representatives, the event fostered dialogue between companies, institutions, and stakeholders, offering new perspectives for sustainable development, innovation, and global competitiveness of the Made in Italy brand.
The Blue Pavilion Terrace hosted Liguria’s leading role in the development of Italy’s national scuba diving hub, organised by the Liguria Regional Council, an opportunity to illustrate the pole’s activities and perspectives and the opportunities for the sector’s companies. The Genoa International Boat Show also hosted Interior Yacht Design: The Materials of Today and Tomorrow (organised by the University of Genoa, in cooperation with Alpi Wood and Rubelli) and The International Yachting Media Opens Its First Marine Test Centre at Marina Porto Antico (an event organised by International Yachting Media).
