ITMA Returns To Italy

ITMA, the "original" European textile machinery trade fair, is held every four years at a different place in different European countries. For years following ITMA '95 in Milan, Italy, the Italian textile machinery manufacturers have expected Italy to be chosen again as the host country. In spite of all their efforts, ITMA 2003 took place in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The 2007 show was the magical ITMA Europe in Munich, Germany; and next year, it will be held in Barcelona, Spain.

Milan Is The Place As Textile World reported last week, CEMATEX, the European Committee of Textile Machinery Manufacturers, has chosen Milan as the site of ITMA for the 2015 exhibition. So the world's primary textile machinery trade fair, which CEMATEX owns, will come back to Italy after 20 years of absence(See " ITMA To Return To Milan In 2015," www.TextileWorld.com, November 2, 2010).

Host association ACIMIT, the Italian Association of Textile Machinery Manufacturers, says Fiera Milano won the competition over other well-known European trade fair sites. For Italy, this means a lot, bringing ITMA back home to Italy after such a long time.

ACIMIT ACIMIT's membership includes some 300 companies that have a total workforce of some 13,000 people. According to ACIMIT, the quality of the Italian textile technology is attested by the high number of countries in which Italian machinery is sold: Some 78 percent of total machinery sold is exported to 130 countries around the globe. In 2009, Italy's textile machinery revenues totaled approximately 2 billion euros, and the sector has retained its market position in spite of the recent global economic downturn.

ACIMIT President Sandro Salmoiraghi happily stated that this is "a great event which represents a success for the whole textile machinery sector in Italy." Salmoiraghi added, "This is a just recognition for a sector, represented by our Association, which has been a global leader in the production and exporting of textile machinery for years."

Salmoiraghi and his member companies are also looking at the positive effects on Italy's textile sector as a whole. "In Italy, we can count on a textile industry which has stood up to the crisis and is evolving," he said. "Italian textile and fashion sector has a turnover of 46 billion euros, which is 28 percent of the European total in terms of revenues, and 43 percent in terms of companies involved."

Boost For The Industry The Italian manufacturers are sure that the ITMA Europe 2015 can represent a driving force for an even more profitable synergy among the various segments of entrepreneurs making up textile industry. Salmoiraghi ended his comments thanking Fiera Milano, "which has worked very hard to bring this event back home, and to CEMATEX, which positively assessed the bid put forward by Fiera Milano." He also is happy with the Italian entrepreneurs, "who have supported the Association and ... will continue to do so right up to the 2015 fair, and the challenges it poses for our sector.

"It will be a great opportunity to reaffirm the quality of Italian products, which are well known for their high level of technology content, reliability and creativity," Salmoiraghi said.

Sixty Years Of ITMA But before ITMA 2015, the next ITMA Europe will take place at Fira de Barcelona Gran V��a in Barcelona Sept. 22-29, 2011. This event marks the 60th anniversary of the world's most established textile machinery exhibition. The first ITMA took place in 1951 in France.

According to CEMATEX, European countries represent the biggest group of exhibitors, booking some 80 percent of the space. The top five participating countries in terms of space applications are Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Spain and Belgium. For the rest of the world, Indian manufacturers form the largest segment, followed by Japan, Turkey, Taiwan and China.