SIMAC and Tanning Tech is underway, alongside Lineapelle, at the sprawling Fiera Milano Rho exhibition centre, just outside Milan, Italy.
Today is the first of three days and while Lineapelle across the central concourse has been a bit slow getting off the ground, there is a buzz and a whirr here at Tanning Tech considering that this is the premier exhibition of machinery manufacturers for global tanneries and leather goods producers.
ASSOMAC, the Italian Footwear, Tannery and Leather Goods Machinery Manufacturers Association, which co-organised the fair with the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), opened the event with a press conference during which Riccardo Monti, president of ICE, the Italian Foreign Trade Agency, said that there is no alternative to coming here to Milan.
"It's a complete show for the whole world," he said. "The creativity, technology and uniqueness - you see everything here from A to Z, so please fill your order books."
Occupying a total area of more than 15,000m2, 271 exhibitors will display the most cutting-edge technology from aroiund the world.
"We have optimised the exhibition layout and developed services for exhibitors and visitors to guarantee greater fruition of the product offer and create an ever more functional context in which to do business, confirming yet again the event's leading international role in its sector," said Amilcare Baccini, SIMAC TANNING TECH CEO in a statement.
Plus, as a result of ITA's involvement, the show expects 25 delegations from around the world for a total of more than 150 foreign delegates including a delegation of 35 from Iraq's leather-footwear sector, organized by UNIDO in collaboration with Confindustria and ASSOMAC.
