A representative of the Mayor of Venice, Mr. Pardoan, said that Venice had the largest chemical industrial park in Europe in the 1970s. Although the park was basically abandoned in the 1990s, the city faced tremendous pollution problems and there were a number of environmental issues to solve in order to balance environmental conservation and development.

In his introduction, Mr. Pardoan had focused on the solutions to pollution: Firstly, one of the solutions to manage the sewage was the use of a permanent blockade to isolate the contaminated site. This action resulted in clear waters immediately. Venice has also accurately recorded the pollution levels of each area and adopted a strategy of attracting investment from enterprises to control pollution at the same time. The city collects all wastewater from industrial parks and sends the wastewater to a sewage treatment plant for processing. During this process, traditional chemical treatment would be performed on the water. The plant would then process the water and transfer the treated water to factories, where the water would be recycled before being released into the wetlands of Venice. In addition, Venice uses an efficient system for waste management. Only 3% of the waste is landfilled while 97% is converted to fertilizers and other uses.

Mr. Pardoan shared that in terms of Venice’s economic development, the city hopes to achieve development not only in water transport but also in other areas. In the near future, a new offshore port will be established and this will be jointly constructed by the port organization of Venice and a Chinese company.