Cooperation agreement signed to promote businesses and excellence with the made in Italy house

The institutional presence will be hosted at the Fiera Milano exhibition centre in Rho

Today, a protocol was signed to establish a stable and ongoing collaboration at the local level between the Ministry of Made in Italy Enterprises, Fondazione Fiera Milano and Fiera Milano, for the benefit of entrepreneurship, local supply chains and Made in Italy. The agreement to promote Italian excellence in national and international markets was signed by Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano, and Roberto Foresti, Deputy Director General of Fiera Milano, who also announced the creation of the first Made in Italy House at a trade fair, which will be hosted in the Service Centre of the Rho exhibition district.

Under the agreement, which will initially last for three years, the parties will undertake to jointly promote and develop initiatives and projects with the aim of encouraging the participation of Italian companies, particularly SMEs, in major trade fairs as a tool for growth, visibility and development; facilitate meetings between companies, investors, international buyers and the network of Italian Chambers of Commerce Abroad, using the trade fair platform as a hub for connections; increase the attractiveness of the Italian trade fair system at a global level; facilitate the development of innovative services for entrepreneurship and the dissemination of the main public tools to support the creation and development of businesses.

The Foundation will also collaborate with MIMIT to participate in events, conferences, conventions and workshops and to define joint programmes to promote opportunities for institutions, operators and businesses to meet. Finally, the Foundation will make its Research Centre available for analysis and research focusing on issues related to the trade fair and conference sectors, as well as for its network of established relationships with the academic and research world.

This desire for cooperation is part of a recent initiative launched by Fondazione Fiera Milano, 'Alleanza per il Made in Italy', which aims to promote ongoing dialogue on the role of the trade fair system in the economic, social and cultural development of the country, involving various players in a joint effort to enhance the industrial sectors represented by trade fairs, strengthen the attractiveness of the region and develop greater synergy between the latter and trade fairs.

"Today we are officially opening the first Made in Italy House at Fiera Milano. This is an important and significant project: the first tangible result of the agreement signed in recent days with Aefi and It-Ex, Italy's two leading trade fair associations, which eventually have a shared and unified path," said the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, Senator Adolfo Urso. "We are starting today in Milan and will soon reach all the other major national and international trade fairs in Italy," he added. "With the Made in Italy Houses, we aim to fully exploit the potential of our companies, accompanying them on their path to international success. Trade fairs, which have always been fundamental tools for industrial and commercial growth, will be able to count on these new Mimit centres, working alongside companies to support them with the tools put in place by the government and gather the necessary information to strengthen our productive ecosystem."

"We are very proud to announce this collaboration, which represents an important step towards strengthening the internationalisation of companies and promoting Made in Italy, a symbol of quality and innovation, with recognition of the strategic role that trade fairs play for the country as a tool for growth and development," said Giovanni Bozzetti, President of Fondazione Fiera Milano. "I would like to thank Minister Urso, who today reiterated his great attention to the trade fair world. At Fondazione Fiera Milano, we are convinced that the trade fair system must be based on synergies and dialogue between institutions, associations and businesses, with the common goal of promoting Italian excellence and production chains, both in our country and abroad, including through greater collaboration between the trade fair associations AEFI and IT-EX."

"Trade fairs are a strategic lever for economic development and the most powerful tool for internationalisation available to businesses," said Roberto Foresti, Deputy General Manager of Fiera Milano. "They are global platforms where Made in Italy meets the world, where markets open up and alliances are built. Thanks to this Protocol, we are putting the strength and international reach of Fiera Milano at the service of Italian companies, accompanying them on a path of growth that goes beyond national borders. Our events, recognised as among the most important in Europe and worldwide, thus become a stable bridge between the country's excellence and major international business flows, strengthening Italy's competitive capacity in the long term."

Made in Italy Houses
The Made in Italy Houses act as MIMIT's institutional presence in the territory and promote Italian excellence through the dissemination of ministerial policies, collaboration with local entities and the promotion of trade fairs. They are also a point of access and a tool made available to citizens and businesses to gather and analyse local and entrepreneurial needs through direct dialogue with institutions, associations and businesses.

The numbers of the Milan trade fair system
The Milan trade fair system continues to be a strategic asset for the country: it supports over 36,000 exhibiting companies (including 10,000 abroad) and welcomes more than 4.5 million visitors a year. More specifically, the more than 50 events organised by Fiera Milano generate, for Italian exhibiting companies alone, revenues of approximately €47 billion and €17.5 billion in exports, with exports accounting for 38% of their turnover achieved at Fiera Milano. Fiera Milano generates €8.1 billion in related business throughout Italy, of which €4.3 billion is in Lombardy. In Italy, 46% of companies are involved in innovation. Among exhibitors participating in trade fairs, the percentage rises to 65%.