The company will have an initial capital of €500 million and act as a national coordination hub for investments in Italian ports.
Why it matters: Italy counts 58 commercial ports and enjoys a strategic position in the Mediterranean, yet fragmented governance and bureaucratic inefficiencies have long constrained the country’s logistics potential.
- The reform aims to establish a “super-authority” capable of coordinating the 16 regional Port System Authorities (AdSP) and accelerating the implementation of strategic infrastructure projects.
Context: The reform comes thirty years after Law 84 of 1994, which decentralized port management.
- The AdSPs will continue to oversee local planning and maintenance, but strategic programming will now be centralised in Rome.
- Revenues from port concession fees and part of the port taxes will feed into a national maritime investment fund managed by Porti d’Italia Spa.
The government’s goal. To create a more efficient and competitive system, capable of attracting private capital and integrating with European transport corridors (TEN-T) — such as the India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC).
- According to government sources, the reform will “better integrate Italian ports into the global logistics network and enhance the country’s performance within international value chains.”
The public-private nexus. Porti d’Italia Spa will be a public company under private law, allowing for greater operational flexibility than existing port authorities.
- The model seeks to combine state-level coordination with private-sector investment capacity, creating a hybrid governance framework.
What’s at stake: Italy is moving to recover competitiveness: the average container handling time is 5.3 minutes, compared to the global average of 4.4 minutes.
- The challenge is also political: balancing national centralisation with the autonomy of regional port authorities.
- The goal is to complete the reform by the end of 2026, aligning with the review of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR).
The big picture: For Rome, ports are a key lever of industrial and geoeconomic policy.
- A strengthened national coordination mechanism aims to transform Italy into a Euro-Mediterranean logistics hub, capable of channelling trade flows between Europe, Africa, and Asia.
