Approved three-year plan
Investments of €237 million and an expected economic impact of over €1 billion on the local area
The 2026-2028 Plan focuses on strategic projects for urban regeneration and the competitiveness of the exhibition districts, with key interventions at fieramilano.
The planned investments in Live DOME and the new Fiera Milano Lab space will generate an economic impact of over €1 billion per year, strengthening the economic fabric of Milan and Lombardy and creating over 9,000 jobs.
Net profit for the period 2026-2028 is estimated at €33.3 million. Assets will amount to €810.4 million by the end of 2028.
The 2026-2028 plan opens a new phase of development for Fondazione Fiera Milano, with €237 million in investments earmarked for strategic projects to boost the competitiveness of the exhibition and conference centres, urban regeneration and local development. The plan was presented today in the presence of Attilio Fontana, President of the Lombardy Region, Elena Buscemi, President of the Milan City Council, and Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano.
The main change is due to the improvements planned for the fieramilano district, which will see a total investment of €20 million, including €12 million for the upgrading and expansion of the Live DOME, redesigned to host the speed skating competitions of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and destined to become one of the largest venues for concerts, events and indoor sports competitions, and €8 million for the creation of a new space within the biplanar pavilions, Fiera Milano Lab, designed for small-scale conferences and trade fair formats.
According to data from the Fondazione Fiera Milano Research Centre, this investment will have a significant impact on the local economy. Once fully operational, Live DOME will generate an annual economic impact of €888 million. The effect on employment will be equally significant, with over 9,000 jobs created, 84% of which will be concentrated in the metropolitan area. As for Fiera Milano Lab, the estimated annual economic impact is €240 million. Overall, the economic impact generated for the area will exceed the extraordinary figure of €1 billion per year, confirming the potential for growth and the capacity to create wealth and employment, strengthening the local and regional economic fabric.
The investments envisaged in the three-year plan in the year of the 25th anniversary of Fondazione Fiera and the 20th anniversary of the inauguration of the Rho exhibition centre - anniversaries also marked by a message from the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni - strengthen the competitiveness of the exhibition and conference centres and allow the Fiera Milano Group to diversify its business.
"Fondazione Fiera Milano has always been at one with the local area. It has played a leading role in recent years, carrying out works and initiatives whose usefulness we can now fully appreciate. In recent years, the Foundation has undergone a major transformation: it has increasingly taken on the role of an institution rooted in the local area, created to support it and enhance its development. In the initial phase, it had to focus on building the large exhibition centre, an extraordinary task carried out before the 2000s. Today, however, it interprets its original mission even more clearly, becoming an added value for the whole of Lombardy. It has been able to grasp the profound meaning of its role and, with it , translate it into concrete results for the benefit of our community," said Attilio Fontana, President of region Lombardy.
"Growing while maintaining a constant focus on the values of sustainability, responsibility and long-term vision is a great added value and makes Fiera Milano an important partner for the Municipality, which bases so much of its policies on these issues. Fiera Milano is much more than an economic operator; it is a key player in the events that mark the history of this international city, as will soon be the case with the Winter Olympics," said Elena Buscemi, President of the Milan City Council.
"This Plan is an assumption of responsibility towards Milan, the Lombardy Region and the country. Our proposal is clear: to work together, grow together and look ahead with a long-term perspective. This is possible thanks to sound and forward-looking management - debt under control, liquidity always above 30 million and full compliance with banking covenants - which allows us to invest without jeopardising the stability of the Foundation." said Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano. "With €237 million in investments, we are preparing the platform for the development of the territory over the next fifteen years. We are changing our model: revenues fully cover operating costs, we have reduced operating costs and introduced industrial accounting that allows us to measure the profitability of each activity. Fiera Milano is no longer just an asset, but a set of products and industrial lines to be optimised. Milan is entering a new competitive phase and we want to accompany it: because if Milan grows, Lombardy grows, and if Lombardy grows, Italy is more competitive. It is in this spirit that we continue to invest when others are holding back," concluded Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano.
The most significant share of the investments, amounting to €153 million, is earmarked for real estate projects in the urban area. These include the construction of a multi-purpose building that will be leased to RAI, for which the Milan City Council has just approved the resolution relating to the agreement, which provides for the construction of a white box in the area previously occupied by MiCo Nord: here, RAI will create its new production centre through its own refurbishment work, with a total contribution from the Foundation of £114 million (out of a total of £120 million) over the three-year plan. Added to this is the completion of the Albergo Scarampo hotel, for which a total investment of €66 million is planned, €39 million of which will be invested in the three-year period 2026-2028.
The remaining investments concern the construction of the Fieramilano Service Centre Hotel in the spaces previously occupied by the offices of Fiera Milano Spa in Rho, for a total investment of approximately €30 million, the maintenance of the real estate portfolio, for €18.3 million, and the implementation of advanced technologies to equip the exhibition and conference centres with new-generation security systems, such as CCTV and intrusion detection systems based on video analysis and artificial intelligence, for a value of €5.5 million. In addition, following the completion of the expansion and rationalisation of the conference centre in the Portello pavilions, some spaces in the so-called 'timpano' will be converted to house the new offices of Fiera Milano Congressi Spa, with an investment of €2.4 million.
Finally, the three-year plan also includes investments in activities and projects through which the Foundation intends to contribute to the well-being of the community and offer the local area opportunities to tackle social difficulties, with a particular focus on the most vulnerable groups – 3 million over the three-year period. It also includes initiatives aimed at developing skills and capitalising on trade fair and conference know-how with the Study Centre and Academy, as well as the enhancement of cultural heritage (the value of the Historical Archive is estimated at 3.6 million euros, of which about one third is included in the balance sheet).
Fondazione Fiera Milano intends to strengthen its role as a driver of economic, social and cultural development in the region by promoting its expertise, including through the creation of new business units on an international scale. This includes engineering for the construction of new exhibition facilities and the conversion of obsolete exhibition spaces, analysis and research activities, training for the development of specific skills for the sector, and the enhancement of historical and artistic heritage with new projects that showcase the best of the city and Italian-made products.
For the three-year period 2026-2028, Fondazione Fiera Milano estimates a net profit of €33.3 million with a reduction in operating costs of €4.2 million compared to the previous approved plan; the net equity forecast as at 31 December 2028 will be €810.4 million, up from the current figure (€764.6 million as at 31 December 2024).