The ACIMIT Assembly (Italian Association of Textile Machinery Producers) was held on 18th April at the Association's headquarters. The meeting was presided over by the Chairman, Ermanno Rondi.
The Chairman's report highlighted the turning point in sector trends. There has been a long period of recession over the previous two years characterised by low demand.
There was an inversion of trends towards the end of 1999 enabling turnover to return to the levels seen at the beginning of the year. Turnover by the end of the year had reached an estimated Itl. 5,300 billion which, although 15% lower than the figures for 1998, is a marked increase on the figures for the beginning of the year.
The recovery has been export-driven (65% of production). Investment has once again taken off in the areas of primary interest for the sector (South East Asia, North and South America, European Union) after the economic stagnation that began in 1998 at the same time as the financial crisis in Asia.
The order book for 2000 is full (+129% compared to the same period in the previous year) and turned the corner «undoubtedly the worst is now behind us».
The Chairman emphasised that Italy, as a member of Cematex, will continue as ever to play a leading role so that ITMA, as with all other Cematex initiatives, can fully respond to the continually developing demands of Italian textile machinery manufacturers.
The report stressed the need imposed by the markets to differentiate products not only in terms of quality, but above all in terms of services. Despite the undoubted advances that have been made lately, there is much room for improvement in the areas of financial and insurance services and research.
The Chairman focused the attention of associates on the need for a «different enterprise culture», not as an end in itself but to enable «a global market vision obtained through alliances, joint ventures, and the opening of branch offices as and when they are needed» according to the spirit of the American neologism «glocality».
The Assembly then elected new officers to the Association's governing bodies, given that the previous terms of office had expired. Alberto Maria Sacchi, Managing Director and General Manager of HTP Unitex SpA, was elected ACIMIT Chairman. Mr Sacchi is 40 years old. He is a law graduate and holds a Masters in Business Administration from the Bocconi University, Milan.
In a brief address, the new Chairman, referring to the current «large increase in competitive pressure» confirmed that ACIMIT will continue to press the relevant institutions for a «foreign economic policy» in which «Italian businesses find themselves operating under the same conditions as those prevailing in other countries where adequate policies and instruments have always been available».