Why invest in Genoa? Because it's a dynamic wonderful cosmopolitan smart high-tech creative innovative sustainable competitive cultural city.

Genoa is a wonderful city, brave and enterprising. One of Europe’s major cities, is a crossroads where economic, cultural and technological opportunities meet, creating the perfect place to live, work and be happy.

In communication with the destinations of the world, especially thanks to its port and the important and strategic modernisation measures covering the entire transport network, Genoa will be even more easy to reach.

A connected city that combines future, technology and history through projects that enhance the cultural and artistic heritage of its Old City Centre, without scarifying the dynamic and innovative component.

Projects that transform and redesign the city, with great attention to environmental sustainability, from the Eastern Waterfront project to the Polcevera Park project, and that relounch Genoa as a investments destination, creating opportunities for work and study for young people.

Key sectors

  • Port
    Port - logistic and shipping

    The port

    The port of Genoa today enlivens approximately 33% of the containers in transit in the national ports of call.

    Genoa represents the southern terminal of the Rhine Alps corridor, a perfect point of transit for the good directed towards the main industrial and consumption area of Central Europe.  Its port receives containers, various goods, petroleum products and passengers, offering a wide selection of services, from temperature-controlled storage to the handling of large loads, to containers maintenance.

    In 2019 the port of  Genoa has enlivened goods for a total of 2,6 million TEUs, with a progression of + 50% in the last 10 years. With its 27 km of docks, with more than 4,5 million passengers between cruises and ferries and 68 million tons of goods enlivened, it represents one of the first Mediterranean ports of final destination.

    The port of Genoa represents in Italy the widest concentration of know-how and technical, professional, scientific, formative competencies, related to the marine-harbor economy. Due to this “cultural heritage” Universities, research institutions, schools, companies, and technical consultants are very active on this territory.

    In order to encourage and facilitate even more the development of ideas, systems and professions connected to the sea economy, the Genova Blue District has been recently created: an incubator of innovation and companies and a start-ups accelerator, that focuses on interconnection and networking in the territory, with the intent of enhancing the talents and attracting new energies.

    The important ongoing infrastructural works will increase the marine, railway, road and aerial accessibility. The most important of this work, the new breakwater, will guarantee access in safety to the great porta containers (until 400 meters of length and capacity of beyond 19 thousand Teus and to last generation cruise ships, allowing the city to keep its dominant position in the national harbor panorama and to consolidate its role on the Mediterranean and European scene. The close relationship between port and city creates a deep synergy focused on efficiency and on environmental respect

    Blue Economy

    The Blue Economy is a set of human activities that use sea, coasts and seabed as resources for industrial activities and the development of services, such as aquaculture, fisheries, marine biotechnology, maritime tourism, coastal tourism and cruises, maritime transports, ports and ship buildings, marine renewable energies, inserted in a sustainability perspective. In a country like Italy, bathed by the sea for about 80 of its borders, this sector represents an important part of its productive system.

     With 156 companies operating in the blue economy field and 13 billion euro production, the Blue Economy plays a bigger role in the productive System of Liguria, since the number of companies in this sector is equal to 9.1% of the regional total. 

    Liguria is also the first Italian Region for the number of shipbuilding enterprises in comparison with the total of the manufacture (1,5% compared with the Italian average of 0,3) and Genoa represents its beating heart. The naval repair, refitting and shipbuilding industry represents excellence in the international panorama, supplying services of quality for luxury yachts and great ships.

    There are also numerous events dedicated to the economy of the sea in Genoa.  The Genoa Boat Show is an appointment that is not to be missed. It attracts every year hundreds of exhibitors and thousands of visitors (almost 1000 exhibitors and 190.000 visitors in 2019) from Italy and abroad.

  • Transport
    Mobility and Transport System

    For Genoa, an efficient mobility system is a priority, due to its particular conformation that makes it a polycentric city.; to obtain that in a sustainable way is a must.

    Therefore the city is investing a lot in order to realize a sustainable mobility plan able to connect the most important infrastructures as the port, the airport, the centre and the different valleys, thanks to an emission-free electric transportation system. This system will be integrated with a network of cycle-path ant with the existing system of lifts and funiculars, a people mover on the rail in design, to connect the airport with the Erzelli scientific-park and with a sky tram that will easily connect the Val Bisagno valley with the centre.

    The city Centre, more precisely the cruise Terminal, will soon be closer to the green hills that surround it, where the Forts park extends: a modern cableway will offer to tourists and citizens the opportunity to reach nature in few minutes.

    Easy, sustainable, capillary connections will facilitate the citizens’ change of habits that, thanks to a series of new interchange parking, will be able to more easily give up the car, eliminating, traffic, pollution and stress.

  • High Technology
    High Technology

    Genoa’s high-tech industry counts several multinationals in the field of energy, automation, transports and infrastructures with research and development laboratories and a net of companies that employs over 15.000 workers, with a significant presence in the fields of electronics, robotics and biotechnology: Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), Leonardo, Esaote, ABB, EET, Bdimensional, Hitachi Rail, Hi-Lex, Danieli Group, Axpo Italy, just to name a few. There are also numerous institutes of the CNR - National Research Council – for Biophysics, Information Technologies, Intelligent Systems for Automation, Marine Sciences and Macromolecules, Information Engineering and Telecommunications.

    The University of Genoa (UNIGE) is national excellence and an important interdisciplinary research centre, which operate in close synergy with some of the most innovative enterprises in the city. In the Ligurian capital there are in fact about 2.650 researchers (1.900 IIT; 350 CNR, 400 UNIGE).

    The panorama of youth innovative enterprises is also particularly lively and is growing rapidly: 179 start-ups registered, with an increase of 18,54% in the first half 2021

    According to the EY Digital Infrastructure Index 2020, Genoa is the first Italian city for digital infrastructure, a position that will be strengthened by the imminent arrival of two large-scale submarine cables, BlueMed and Equinix, that will transform the Ligurian Capital into the new digital European and Mediterranean gateway and into a strategic hub in the global map of submarine cables. This will provide local businesses with a competitive advantage, leading to the creation of skilled jobs and will contribute to the creation of an inclusive digital society.

    During the next years Genoa will continue to strengthen its technological sector, with a particular focus on biomedical, mechanical and robotic research:

    • Erzelli science and technology park: developed by GHT Spa, will further consolidate its commitment to innovation, not only as a hub of exchange among companies, academics and research centres but also as an urban eco-sustainable site, designed with cutting-edge technology. In the next years, besides the already existing organizations (such as Siemens, Esaote, Ericsson, IIT, Liguria Digital and Talent Garden), the Polytechnic School of Genoa’s University and a private hospital that aims to become a new point of reference for health and research at a national level will join the park.
    • RoboIT, the first national centre for robotic technology transfer, will rise near the new S. Giorgio Bridge. Here  University, research centres, venture capital funds and companies will cooperate to support the birth of new national robotics experts and developing innovative robotic start-ups, with positive repercussions estimated at over 100 million euros in 4 years, for the creation and development of 50 new companies