For Italy’s textile machinery sector, 2015 will primarily revolve around ITMA, the industry’s global trade fair that makes a return to Italy 20 years after the last edition held there. Milan will host the 17th edition of ITMA during November 12-19. For Italian textile machinery manufacturers, it has meant a year-long race to get themselves ready for the event that is held in Europe every four years.
Over 380 Italian exhibitors are slated to be present in Milan, a 19 per cent increase compared to those participating four years ago in Barcelona, where the last edition of ITMA was held. Even greater is the surface area of exhibition space already booked for the show (+46%).
As ACIMIT President Raffaella Carabelli confirms, “these figures don’t just place Italy as the leader among the countries exhibiting at the trade fair; above all, they testify to the vitality of our industry and the belief in all of us that Italy’s textile sector is enjoying a period of good health.”
While machinery manufacturers have focused on technology innovations to showcase at what has always been considered the pre-eminent international event for the industry, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT), thanks to the support provided by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Italian Trade Agency, has taken a whole range of initiatives aimed at promoting Italy’s textile machinery sector and its participation in ITMA 2015.
Among the various initiatives planned are the incoming missions of foreign delegations which will bring to Italy during the course of 2015 close to 200 textile operators hailing from around a dozen countries, including Bangladesh, Iran, Egypt and Pakistan, in order to present to them the best of what the Italian textile technology has to offer.
Thanks to the ITMA 2015 Awards, about 10 students from foreign universities – Ethiopia, India, Russia and Vietnam – will get the opportunity to visit the ITMA pavilions and discover the innovations proposed by the Italian textile machinery sector. All of this will be complemented by an intense press communications campaign and two media events, in June and during the event itself, with the involvement of various notable players in the Italian textile sector.
“The importance of the event has been seized by the Deputy Minister Carlo Calenda” states Carabelli, “recognizing the significance of the textile machinery industry, a sector that exports over 80% of its production to more than 130 countries, representing Italian excellence worldwide. The support offered by the Ministry and the Italian Trade Agency makes us proud, allowing us to confidently present the combination of tradition and innovation that has always distinguished our textile sector and made us a global leader, to all of the industry operators who will be flowing into Milan in November.”
Says Roberto Luongo, General Director of Italian Trade Agency: “Export represents for the Italian textile machinery industry a well-established vocation, almost an innate characteristic, and for this reason we usually support ACIMIT and the companies of the sector. We are aware that ITMA 2015 is for all Italian companies operating in the sector a great opportunity. So a special project to support the presence of Italian companies at the show has been prepared with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development”.