Lecco hosts the Consular Corps roadshow: manufacturing meets diplomacy for Como, Lecco and Sondrio
Manufacturing, research and innovation were at the centre of the October 14 meeting at the Lecco campus of the Politecnico di Milano. The figures presented put Como exports above 6.2 billion euros in 2025 and Lecco and Sondrio together above 7.4 billion.
Translated from the Italian original. Leggi in italiano
Lecco hosted the third stage of the Impresa e Diplomazia nei territori lombardi roadshow on Wednesday, October 14, an initiative of Confindustria Lombardia and the Consular Corps of Milan and Lombardy organised with Confindustria Como and Confindustria Lecco e Sondrio. The meeting took place at the Lecco campus of the Politecnico di Milano, on Via Previati, and presented the strengths of the Como, Lecco and Sondrio territories to the international representatives attending, with a focus on the value of manufacturing in research and innovation.
The roadshow, launched last December, runs through four stages in 2026, each dedicated to a key production chain: the first was held on March 24 in Castellanza on technical textiles, the second on July 2 in Pavia on life sciences and food and packaging. After Lecco, the series closes on November 18 in Brescia with a focus on advanced manufacturing and enabling technologies. Speakers in Lecco included Marco Campanari, president of Confindustria Lecco e Sondrio, Walter Pozzi, vice president of Confindustria Como, the dean of the Consular Corps Verónica Crego Porley, Claudia Sartirani, president of the Small Industry committee of Confindustria Lombardia, the Lecco campus prorector Marco Tarabini, Como and Lecco Chamber of Commerce president Ezio Vergani and Pierluigi Petrali, director of the Lombardy Digital Innovation Hub. The day ended with a visit to the campus and its research laboratories.
The figures presented: Lombard exports heading for a new record
According to the figures presented at the meeting, after the 2025 export record of 167 billion euros of goods, Lombardy had already reached 85.7 billion euros in the first half of 2026. For the province of Como, the figures presented put 2025 exports at more than 6.2 billion euros against imports of about 4 billion: the main destination countries are Germany, France, Switzerland, the United States and Spain, and Como exports are led by textiles, over a fifth of the total at 1.28 billion, and chemicals and rubber, at 1.14 billion.
For Lecco and Sondrio together, 2025 exports exceeded 7.4 billion euros. In the first six months of 2026, according to the figures presented at the round table moderated by Sole 24 Ore journalist Luca Orlando, Lecco exports totalled 3.47 billion, up 10 percent on the first half of 2025, while Sondrio exports stood at about 495 million. In the same six months, mechanics and mechatronics account for over two thirds of the two territories' combined exports, at 2.67 billion. On innovation, the meeting recalled that in 2025 Lombardy was again Italy's first region for patent activity with 1,352 applications, and that the average digital maturity of the Como, Lecco and Sondrio wider area, at 3.02 according to Digital Innovation Hub data, is above the national average of 2.81.
Como è un territorio fortemente orientato all’export e all’apertura verso mercati internazionali.
Walter Pozzi, vice president of Confindustria Como (in Italian)
In his opening remarks, Campanari linked the territory's potential to the recent approval of the ZIS HRL, dedicated to healthcare, rehabilitation and longevity, which has its epicentre in Lecco. Pozzi described the exchange with diplomatic and consular representatives as an opportunity to strengthen relations and develop new collaborations, at a time when Como businesses operate daily on global markets, investing in innovation, sustainability and skills.
