ROME - The Minister for Southern Italy, Ms.Barbara Lezzi, met the correspondents of the foreign press in Italy in a full-scale confrontation, in which there was discussions about the economic maneuver, the reform of the pension system, the relations between Italy and the European Union, the government and relationships within the Parliamentary majority. Furthermore, journalists have shown particular interest in the measures for relaunching the South, investments in infrastructure, economic relations between the South and the Mediterranean countries and measures to fight unemployment.

 The minister said that the railway infrastructures such as the high speed Bari-Naples would be "extended in Apulian Salento, to accommodate the tourist vocation of the area," and spoke about the road interventions that are being completed after years of waiting, such as Catania-Ragusa, Sassari-Olbia, and Bari-Matera. The Minister also took the opportunity to talk about the start of Special Economic Zones (ZES) that will be coordinated by a central control room to act in an integrated way and not in isolation, and the upcoming decree on administrative simplifications that will also intervene on this subject.

 A part of the long debate was dedicated to European funds and their use by the Southern Regions: "By December 2018 we will have to report about 4,200,000,000 euros of European funds, and when I settled the percentage of reporting was very low, especially in some regions," Lezzi explained. "In Sicily, for example, more than 700 million remained to be reported in less than six months, but despite the difficulty of the action we have activated a procedure provided for in the regulation for the structural funds in the 2014-2020 programming and which consists of a reinforced monitoring that sees directly involved the ministry, the president of the Region and the European Commission. Thanks to this collaboration, up till now the risk of losing these funds is almost nil, and the results will concretely manifest for the citizens, because there will be built, inter alia, a motorway and a railway hub on Palermo that were expected for years."

 At the end of the meeting, responding to a question by Gianfranco Nitti, Minister Lezzi recalled the attention that the government intends to reserve for the city of Taranto for its revival. In fact, the government has expressed a favorable opinion regarding the candidacy of the city to host the Mediterranean Games in 2025. According to Lezzi, "beyond the sporting event, already very important in itself, this event can become an opportunity to promote improvement and growth interventions in the city, which can be grafted into the conversion process to which this government is working, mainly through the work of Minister Di Maio."

 Minister Lezzi, at the end of the meeting held at Palazzo Chigi attended by the mayor of Taranto, Rinaldo Melucci, the Director General of Asset, Elio Sannicandro, and the local M5S deputies Giovanni Vianello and Paolo Lattanzio had stated that, "firstly it was established that a promoting committee will be set up for Taranto 2025 in which all the actors who can contribute will participate. In particular, the intention is to put at the system all the resources that can be allocated to this project, including a part of those planned within the Cis Taranto. We all have the desire to invest in this application that can really represent the right opportunity for the revival and development of a city and a territory that are in dire need of it. We also speak of an occasion of fundamental importance in redefining the cultural identity of the city, which boasts a history, an environmental and artistic heritage whose knowledge must be encouraged and promoted, both in the rest of the country and in Europe."

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