In true Italian style, the opening press conference for PLAST 2018 (May 29th 2018) was carried out with much celebration. Attracting the local media, the event marked the bringing together of the Innovation Alliance, the collaboration of industries to bring the best of Italy’s exports into one place, in a mass showcase of the Made in Italy stamp of quality and technical precision.
Made in Italy carousel
As well as PLAST 2018, Fiera Milano is playing host to IPACK-IMA, MEAT-TECH, Print4All and INTRALOGISTICA ITALIA. All of which represent the country’s most lucrative supply chains both at home and abroad.
The PLAST 2018 portion of this enormous trade event is hosting 15,000 exhibitors and over half (57 per cent) of these are Italian companies, with the remainder coming from 55 countries in total, covering 55,000 m sq of floor space.
The buzzing show floor represents Italy’s most successful export: plastics processing machinery. Over 70 per cent of national production is exported, amounting to a record sum of €4.6 billion in 2017.
Speaking at the Innovation Alliance opening ceremony, Fiera Milano boss Fabriano Curci said: “We want the do our best to exploit this venue, representing industries that are the best scales of our country. I really hope this project will have a long-lasting life.”
The Innovation Alliance in total covers Fiera Milano’s 17 halls - a total of 140,000 m sq, with 3,501 exhibitors from a total of 65 countries and each of the industries represented are experiencing growth. While plastics and rubber machinery experienced 10 per cent growth in 2017, government figures revealed that packaging and processing machinery recorded a 5.9 per cent uptick last year, printing and converting machinery is up 13 per cent, and logistics and materials handling machinery logged a 5.4 per cent boost over the 12-month period.
PLAST 2018
PLAST 2018’s sponsorship from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development was acknowledges in the opening ceremony, and Alessandro Grassi of AMAPLAST thanked the office for its support.
CEO of IPACK IMA Leonardo De Robertis added: “We are representing this union and the real Made in Italy [concept] and how we can create alliances and become more successful. We are an international exhibition, but it is also a demonstration of Made in Italy. Thanks to this collaboration and the drive by Fiera Milano, we are here today to represent our trade associations to the world.”
