The Italian premier Giuseppe Conte, on the side-lines of his busy agenda of meetings held on 23 and 24 October during his visit to Moscow, found time to go to the Expocentr exhibition centre to visit two major exhibitions taking place in those days: the fair “Obuv.MIr Kozhi“, dedicated to footwear, and the “Lesdrevmash“, an international exhibition of woodworking machines.

The Italian entrepreneurs present who welcomed the visit of the Prime Minister as a support to their business as entrepreneurs, are satisfied. 

Dario Corbetta, director of Acimall, the association of Italian wood and furniture machinery manufacturers, said: “Undoubtedly a moment of great enthusiasm and satisfaction: in the long history of our sector it is the first time that a Prime Minister honours us with a visit to one of the many trade fairs in which Italian technology is confronted with markets all over the world“.

The premier Conte was welcomed by Acimall vice-president, Raphaël Prati, who thanked him on behalf of all the companies in the sector. Prati also recalled the important role played by the woodworking machinery field in the Italian mechanical engineering sector, both in terms of turnover and exports, and the contribution it offers to the world of furniture, now universally recognized as an excellence.

Raphaël Prati also mentioned how the woodworking machinery and plant sector is made up of large groups in the foreground at a global level, but also by many small entrepreneurs who make innovation the key to Italian success. “A force - continued Prati - that, thanks also to the support of Ice Agency, we know how to express in the world, gaining in every fair, event, review the role of absolute protagonists“. Prati then concluded by reaffirming the need for entrepreneurs to always have the institutions at their side, so as to be able to consolidate these successes and ensure future growth.

For his part, the premier Conte underlined the importance of Italian exports in the national economy, reaffirming the competitiveness of Italian national system thanks to the innovation carried out by sectors such as woodworking and furniture production, that are genuine excellences worldwide. “Many thanks to all of you“, concluded Conte - “as Prime Minister I am proud of all this and I am absolutely convinced that there must be an increasingly strong joint effort of government, institutions and entrepreneurs to create a system and guarantee Italy its role also at the technological and industrial level“.