More than 100 delegates in Milan for the meeting, one of the first live events nationwide for the Italian stone industry. Marco De Angelis reconfirmed at the helm of the association.
Again an event for verification and strategic planning for the Italian stone/techno-stone industry, the Confindustria Marmomacchine General Assembly held on September 17 at the Hotel Enterprise in Milan drew 110 delegates, with business people from all over the country and representatives of the main government and business institutions. Marco De Angelis (GDA Marmi e Graniti) was confirmed as president of the association for another term (2020-2022).
The Italian stone/techno-stone association, while rigorously respecting all the anti-contagion precautions foreseen in safety protocols for holding congresses, chose to hold its annual convention live and not in videoconference as a tangible sign of a restart for the entire business community that recognizes itself in Confindustria Marmomacchine, after the forced stop to the originally slated meeting imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the meeting there were also elections for the new president of the association, reconfirming Massa businessman Marco De Angelis (GDA Marmi e Graniti) at the helm of Confindustria Marmomacchine for the 2020-2022 term. As proposed by the president, the assembly also elected the four vice presidents who will work alongside De Angelis until 2022: Francesco ANTOLINI (Antolini Luigi & C. Spa) – in charge of Labor and Industrial Relations; Federico FRACCAROLI (Fraccaroli & Balzan Spa) – in charge of Research and Environmental Sustainability; Corradino FRANZI (GMM Spa) – in charge of Fiscal and Finance; Valentina TROIS (Gruppo Sardenga Marmi) – in charge of Regional Affairs.
In addition to a rundown of the sector situation – with presentation of the export data for the first half of the year by Honorary President Flavio Marabelli – the association’s general assembly was also an important networking event for the entire sector, where it was possible to meet with members of government, business people and stakeholders. In fact, participating in the meeting were Manlio DI STEFANO, Under Secretary for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Carlo Maria FERRO, President of ICE-Italian Trade Agency, and Barbara BELTRAME, Confindustria Vice President for Internationalization, who spoke during the interesting panel discussion titled ‘SUSPENDED EXPORTS: NEW STRATEGIES FOR UNUSUAL SCENARIOS”.
“The Italian stone sector, as regards both materials and quarrying and processing technologies, in spite of the halt to production imposed by the pandemic globally and a consistent drop in production in the early part of the year, continues to demonstrate an extraordinary dynamism on international markets, as shown by the decided rebound of our exports beginning in June”, said President De Angelis in his remarks. “In this highly complex scenario, what comforts me is above all seeing how our members have held steady. Which is why I am convinced that we have to restart precisely from our business people and the value of a community like ours. So we appeal to the government and those tasked with guiding Italy out of the emergency to return to teamwork with the production system, giving us adequate responses and support that recognize our ability to “do business” as a value and fundamental resource for the country.”