Liguria Region for businesses: incentives and support measures

The Regional Programme Liguria ERDF 2021-2027 

Thanks to the Regional Programme Liguria ERDF 2021-2027 , the Liguria Region supports investments in the territory through a comprehensive plan of targeted actions aimed at fostering growth, expansion and the competitive strengthening of the production system

In particular, the current Programming has introduced measures to support businesses across several areas, including research and innovation, digitalisation, energy efficiency, renewable energy and the circular economy as well as instruments to facilitate access to credit.

Road Map 2026: also consult the measures under the Regional Programme Liguria ERDF 2021-2027 activated in the first half of 2026.

Support measures for the revitalisation of Ligurian industrial crisis areas

For the complex industrial crisis area of Savona, recognised by the Ministerial Decree of 21 September 2016 and comprising 21 municipalities in the Province of Savona, as well as for the non-complex industrial crisis area, which covers 38 municipalities in the region identified by the Director's Decree of 19 December 2016 , specific national and regional support measures are available.

These measures provide targeted financial support aimed at promoting productive reconversion, employment recovery and entrepreneurial development, with the objective of strengthening existing businesses while encouraging new investments in the areas concerned.

COMPLEX INDUSTRIAL CRISIS AREA OF SAVONA

In September 2026, the Regional Government of Liguria approved the new Programme Agreement for the implementation of the industrial conversion and redevelopment project for the area of complex industrial crisis in the Savona area. The measure is part of the process already launched with the previous Programme Agreement of 2023, ensuring continuity for the interventions aimed at the conversion and redevelopment of the area.
The new Agreement, signed by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, the National Agency for Active Labour Market Policies, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the Liguria Region, the Province of Savona, the Port System Authority of the Western Ligurian Sea and Invitalia, makes a total of 47.5 million euros available, of which:

•  €37.5 million allocated by the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy
•  €10 million drawn from the Liguria ERDF Regional Programme 2021–2027

Visit the dedicated section on the complex industrial crisis area of Savona on the Regione Liguria website.

You can also find details of the calls launched under the current ERDF Regional Programme for Liguria's industrial crisis areas by accessing the dedicated section .

NON-COMPLEX INDUSTRIAL CRISIS AREA

To support development programmes in the territories included in the non-complex industrial crisis area, the Liguria ERDF Regional Programme 2021-2027 has established specific measures for businesses aimed at encouraging investment and promoting employment.

Visit the dedicated section on the non-complex industrial crisis area on the Regione Liguria website.

You can also find details of the calls launched under the current ERDF Regional Programme for Liguria's industrial crisis areas by accessing the dedicated section of the Regione Liguria website.

The Simplified Logistics Zones (ZLS) of Liguria and simplification and support measures for businesses

Liguria is home to two Simplified Logistics Zones (ZLS): one covering the  Port and Inland Port of Genoa , and the other covering the Port and Inland Port of La Spezia.

The primary objective of the Simplified Logistics Zones is to promote investments functionally connected to port and logistics activities, with a view to strengthening and developing the local economy.

The ZLS system was introduced by the 2018 Italian Budget Law to encourage new investments in the more developed regions of Central and Northern Italy, extending administrative simplification measures and, in some cases, financial incentives through tax credits to companies operating within these areas as well as to new businesses establishing themselves there.

In addition, Intercluded Customs Free Zones may be established within ZLS areas, with the benefits provided for under the Union Customs Code.

We invite you to visit the Regione Liguria website's dedicated page on the Simplified Logistics Zones (ZLS) of Genoa and La Spezia . Here you can find detailed information on how the ZLSs operate and on the administrative, tax and customs simplifications available to new and existing businesses.

Measures for the Ligurian inland areas

Under Regional Law No. 6 of 6 May 2025, the Liguria Region has introduced pilot measures to encourage the establishment of new economic activities and support existing micro-enterprises in the inland areas.
The regional actions are mainly focused on non-coastal municipalities and provide financial support for costs incurred by micro-enterprises in the crafts, trade, catering services and community cooperatives engaged in economic activities

Visit the Liguria Region’s website to view the page dedicated to measures for businesses in the inland areas.

Incentives for urban regeneration

Incentives under Regional law no. 23/2018

Article 6 of Regional Law No. 23/2018 introduces economic incentive measures aimed at making urban regeneration projects within the designated areas effectively feasible.
The main incentive provided for under article 6 consists of a reduction in the building contribution referred to in Presidential Decree No. 380/2001 for urban regeneration projects.

The reduction applies to:
•    primary and secondary urbanisation charges;
•    construction costs, within the limits and according to the criteria established by the Regional Law and Table 1 annexed thereto.

Furthermore, projects planned within urban regeneration areas may be eligible for regional funding, including funding for the related design and planning activities.
In the event of demolition followed by partial rather than full reconstruction, the residual floor area may be entered in the specific municipal registers of building credits and subsequently reused in accordance with the provisions of the Urban Planning Instrument (PUC).
The incentives are not automatically granted to every project to be implemented within regeneration areas. Rather, each project must demonstrate that it pursues the objectives of the law in order to qualify for the relevant incentives.
For this purpose, article 7 of the law sets out the binding criteria for access to bonuses and incentives, particularly with regard to the following aspects related to urban regeneration.

Design quality as an essential requirement

Article 7 requires projects to be assessed not only in quantitative terms, but above all on the basis of the overall quality of the project and its effects on the surrounding urban context.
Finally, Article 5 defines the specific contents of any planning agreements associated with building permits (permessi di costruire convenzionati).

Temporary uses under Predidential Decree no. 380/2001

Pursuant to Article 23-quater of Presidential Decree No. 380 of 6 June 2001, national legislation recognises temporary uses as a tool aimed at initiating urban regeneration processes, the redevelopment of degraded urban areas, and the recovery and enhancement of disused or soon-to-be-disused buildings and urban spaces, while at the same time promoting economic, social and cultural initiatives and environmental restoration.
The provision allows municipalities to authorise the temporary use of buildings for purposes other than those provided for by the current urban planning instrument, without this constituting a change of use of planning significance. Temporary use is therefore configured as a reversible measure that does not alter or predetermine the existing planning framework.
Temporary uses are regulated through a specific agreement, which constitutes the legal basis for the use of the property and for carrying out any strictly necessary building adaptation works. Such works must be carried out in a reversible manner. The agreement regulates the duration and conditions of use, restoration obligations and guarantees.
•    Temporary use constitutes an “anticipatory” and non-conformative instrument, suitable for activating urban regeneration areas during the preliminary or intermediate stages of the transformation process, with the aim of initiating urban regeneration, recovery and enhancement processes involving disused or soon-to-be-disused buildings and spaces.
•    This purpose is consistent with the substantive objectives of Regional Law No. 23/2018, which does not limit regeneration to permanent building interventions, but instead conceives it as a complex, progressive and multi-level process, also encompassing temporary, experimental and reversible actions.

Multi-level incentive system for reuse and regeneration

Many of the areas included in the programme are located within the system of Simplified Logistics Zones (ZLS). The incentives available under the ZLS framework can be fully combined with the incentives established for urban regeneration.
•    The ZLS strengthens the economic attractiveness and feasibility of projects, creating a multi-level incentive system aimed at reusing the existing urban fabric, limiting land consumption, and revitalising the productive and logistics functions of the territory.
•    temporary Uses operate as a “soft” and reversible activation measure, capable of counteracting abandonment, socially and economically reactivating disused properties, and testing functions compatible with the urban context during a stage preceding or intermediate to the final transformation.
•    The incentives under Regional Law No. 23/2018 support the implementation of permanent building and urban-planning interventions that comply with the binding criteria for urban and environmental quality established by Article 7 of the same law.