The first stage of the new promotion initiative launched by Veronafiere-Marmomacc, We Speak Stone, and held in New York, has been completed.
It was attended by ten of the most important companies in the Veronese Stone District (Antolini, Bauce Bruno, Cereser Marmi, Formigari, Girasole Pietre Naturali, Montegrappa, La Ponte Marmi M&G, Marmi Scala, Domos and Testi Group).
This was the debut for a broader project that will see the organisation of other international stages accompanying companies to consolidated and emerging markets in the natural stone field.
The two-day event in New York included many meetings with some of the world's most renowned architects, including Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) and VOA Architecture Associates, visits to the showrooms of distributors including Artistic Tile, Walker Zanger and Stone Source, as well as b2b meetings.
While the natural stone-technology industry continues to rank among sectors of excellence in Italian manufacturing thanks to an overall value of exports coming to €3.2 billion euros in 2015, the United States is once again among the most receptive markets for production such high added value items as finished and semi-finished stone products and related technologies. The first posted an increase in exports to the USA of 24.7% worth €458 million out of an overall total for Italy in the segment of €1.6 billion, while the second came to nearly €142 million out of a total of €1.2 billion in 2015.
Organisers of the New York event say that the relationship with the United States is very well established: during the last edition of
The 51st edition of Marmomacc is scheduled in Verona 28 September-1 October 2016
Marmomacc has for many years been recognised as an education provider by AIA (the American Association of Architects) and in New York also proposed educational seminars in collaboration with Stone Trends International and Mapei US Corporation.
“The United States is a market we have followed up with great attention for many years, precisely to ensure more business and development opportunities for our companies in a vital geo-economic area for Italian marble-stone and technologies,” says Giovanni Mantovani, CEO and Director General of Veronafiere (organisers of Marmomacc).
“This initiative in New York is part of Marmomacc's new strategy on international markets that seeks to promote dialogue between companies and key players in the sector, be they architects and designers or buyers and distributors of products and technologies.
“This matching and reporting task is back up by a new app that leverages Marmomacc's web platform to maintain and develop business and contacts.”
