Adnkronos Milan, 7 Feb. (Adnkronos) – One year after its foundation, IT-EX is the new point of reference for Italian companies operating in the international trade fair sector. The association, founded by the protagonists of the Italian trade fair system on 7 February 2024, was created to represent them with institutions, companies and foreign markets. And its main objective is to support small and medium-sized Italian companies, which can launch themselves towards new international commercial opportunities through the national trade fair system.
The effort is “absolutely indispensable” given the severe post-pandemic economic slowdown, underlines the president of IT-EX, Raffaello Napoleone, to Adnkronos. The last five years have brought “the most severe crisis since the Second World War, at least in terms of duration. We work to offer support to businesses themselves, and IT-EX is at the forefront precisely to ensure that rules are drawn up to support them at this time”.
It must be said that the long tail of Covid-19 has not obscured the brilliance of the Italian trade fair system. The members of IT-EX, names and acronyms of importance that organize events of international caliber, have a total of over 2,8 million annual visitors (of which 750.000 from abroad) and 26.000 exhibitors (of which 11.000 are foreign). A preferential channel for the attention of customers and market operators, capable of guaranteeing small and medium-sized enterprises the exposure and tools necessary to accelerate their development.
In short, it is an “essential crossroads for international trade and foreign companies that want to get in touch with the manufacturing excellence of our country,” notes Napoleone. “If you don’t pass through here, you miss out on essential business opportunities” that emerge from the ability of IT-EX members to bring together the best producers, designers and artisans under one roof, ensuring a coordinated and high-end offering that can act as a showcase for the best of Made in Italy.
The Italian government is well aware of the importance of exhibitions, explains the president. “Through the Maeci and the Mimit it has demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting companies, for example by financing hospitality programs for international buyers and contributing to the reduction of travel and accommodation costs” – an effort that the association intends to enhance, working with the institutions to unlock new opportunities for public support and financing for companies and outline a direction that can enhance the components of the country system.
In this sense, IT-EX is developing relationships, strategies and industrial policies in close coordination with the government. The association can boast “a very strong alliance and important support from Ice”, the Institute for Foreign Trade. At the same time, IT-EX maintains an open dialogue with other sector organizations, including the century-old Union of International Fairs (Ufi), of which it is a Diamond Sponsor in this significant year. “At this time we need to stand together, concentrate energy and resources to overcome economic difficulties and look to the future with positivity”, is the approach outlined by Napoleone.
After all, it would be shortsighted for the country system not to invest in the substratum of SMEs that constitute the lifeblood of the Italian economy. The extensive representation of IT-EX "guarantees companies coverage of both the domestic market and the best international markets, where Made in Italy continues to have a reference role for its quality and its ability to represent itself much better than manufacturing from other countries", the president points out.
IT-EX's work therefore develops on a double channel: following the Italian trade fair front to "raise quality and creativity to the maximum" and at the same time being "attentive and ready to move abroad with our associates, who carry out activities and organize essential events around the world". The ultimate goal is the growth of those who exploit the system, capable of promoting the development of specific industrial sectors. Starting from individual companies, which can benefit from a unique stage to get in touch with the relevant stakeholders.
The third channel, now fundamental and transversal, is the digital dimension that is transforming the face of the trade fair system: "companies must be able to communicate and promote themselves in foreign markets even before the event itself", says Napoleone. In this, e-commerce and digital platforms play a growing role, but small and medium-sized businesses often struggle to invest in these tools: this is where IT-EX comes in, facilitating this process, encouraging the adoption of innovative solutions accessible to all production entities.
If one eye is on the future, the other is inevitably turned to the historical strength of Italian excellence: know-how, which from fashion to mechanics, from the food sector to furniture remains a distinctive element that foreign customers continue to seek. "The strength of our production system lies in the artisan quality and the ability to innovate, even in small businesses", Napoleone underlines, giving the example of Italian production districts, made up of small companies (from 8 to 15 employees) but highly specialized, capable of forming a unique ecosystem that no other country has managed to replicate.
“IT-EX should certainly be seen as the association closest to internationalization for companies that want to represent their innovations in the world,” summarizes the president. The association's action follows Italy's “consolidated tradition,” which has led the Belpaese to become an export titan, starting with the United States and Japan, the first countries where our products established themselves. Today the chessboard is expanded, including China, the Middle East and South-East Asia, which “is taking on an increasingly important weight.” However, Europe “remains a central reference market”: maximum expansion, therefore, to ensure that “this complex situation is overcome and we look to the future with positivity.”