Philip Morris, Hannappel: ‘Choice Italy because it is a strong country in inventiveness and ability to generate’

Philip Morris has chosen Italy “because we are still a very strong country when it comes to inventiveness and when there is something new to be transformed and created that others are unable to do”. This was stated by Marco Hannappel, president and CEO of Philip Morris Italia, during the ‘Future forward: Italy and the future of trade’ event, organized by Economist with the support of Philip Morris International, explaining how “until 2016 the our presence in Italy was quite limited “but then there was” Philip Morris’ worldwide change in his corporate vocation “which was” to transform itself through innovation, through new generation products that must be substitutes for those who does not want or cannot quit smoking traditional cigarettes. ” The company, he then recalled, “started with research and development and invested 8 billion dollars in 12 years. An important part of these investments then arrived in Italy with the inauguration in 2016 of the largest plant in Italy. world in Crespellano, with 1.1 billion invested in the largest green field investment in Italy in the last 20 years, the largest plant built from scratch in our country with a creation of what is inside the walls of Crespellano that is truly Italian: out of 650 companies to build it, 600 were Italian, “he said again. After 5 years, the plant has generated “over 30 thousand jobs” of which “22,500 in agriculture thanks to the agreements with Mipaaf and the purchase of tobacco produced by a thousand Italian direct farmers”. Once transformed, he added, “we produce a product that is exported to 40 countries around the world, with an export that this year exceeds, with a single plant, that of olive oil, seasoned moped cheeses, which are great excellence of our country. There are 1,600 workers and we have just started, it is a change that today involves 20 million smokers in the world, but there are 1 billion smokers in the world. It is only imaginable what this made in Italy product is it can lead to value creation, “Hannappel said.