| EIMA INTERNATIONAL 2012 |
for an economic sector bridging agriculture and industry,
and multifunctional agriculture, which covers a large num-
ber of possible activities in rural settings.
Among these salons, special attention will be trained on
the one for gardening and groundskeeping returning to
the EIMA setting after years of absence….
For this sector, we’d created an ad hoc project, Expo Green,
which was of great interest because of its prospects and
format, which called for broadening all the merchandise
sectors having to do with greenskeeping and outdoor life.
The international crisis sweeping through industrial sec-
tors beginning in 2009 took the wind out of the sails of
this project and pointed to a return of gardening within
the great EIMA. This is still a valid idea but at this time the
wise choice was to bring specialized salons into the big
event, especially in the critical economic context like the
present one. If you have to face heavy seas, better to do
this aboard an ocean liner than a smaller boat….
Anyway, an ocean liner setting sail from Bologna….
Undoubtedly! In July last year we renewed our contract
with BolognaFiere for the future editions, to 2024, and this
has allowed us, as well as the trade fair agency, to lay out
long term plans for strengthening this review of agricul-
tural mechanization which is actually a very real resource
for the industries in the sector and the city of Bologna.
There are relations of esteem and confidence with Presi-
dent Duccio Campagnoli and top trade fair management
but especially a commitment, based on our requests, to
upgrade and extend the facilities of the trade fair quar-
ters, and there is a shared vision of what EIMA intends to
be in the international picture: the point of reference for
businesspeople in traditional markets, those of Western
Europe and the United States and, along with business-
people in new markets, those in Africa, the Middle East,
the Far East, South America and Eastern Europe. In sub-
stance, we are working together to put on a top level re-
view immediately and achieve our most ambitious goals
in the near future.
Strategy and the organization machinery are important
but above all there is the technical content of the exhi-
bition….
Above all, EIMA is a showcase for technological innova-
tion. As opposed to many reviews, which deal strictly with
the commercial and promotional side, our exposition is
the place where industries challenge each other at the lev-
el of product quality, inventiveness, capabilities in plan-
ning, design and applied research. It’s extraordinary to
see, even with this unfavorable economic trend, that the
industries in our sector are not stopping their investments
in research and development. A large number of compa-
nies have entered the Technical Innovation EIMA 2012
Competition, with prizes awarded for technological appli-
cations and the most advanced and unprecedented solu-
tions. Many companies have entered, from the majors
down to the smallest, with a wealth of proposals which
says a lot about the vitality and entrepreneurial mentality
of this sector. The jury has awarded 20 New Techniques
prizes and selected another 50 as praiseworthy for listing
in the Techniques Special Mention category. For these 70
products alone, only a small part of the 25,000 models of
machinery brought to EIMA overall, coming to the fair is
well worthwhile.
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