VeronaFiere, organizer of the world-leading stone exhibition Marmomacc in Verona, Italy, announced that it has reached a two-year agreement with Confindustria Marmomacchine, the association for the Italian natural stone and related machinery sector, which represents more than 330 companies in the sector.

This collaboration is strengthened through the development of new assets, such as preparation of market studies, training and procurement of financing to developing promotional activities. On an international level, the agreement focuses on attendance at events and joint and shared management of new exhibition events or commercial initiatives in areas experiencing development. These include Brazil, China, India and the Persian Gulf, and they will be promoted and organized by VeronaFiere (in the cases of Marmomacc and StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas) or Confindustria Marmomacchine, which is active in 15 to 20 events per year in the main international markets.

The first positive results emerged from StonExpo/Marmomacc Americas at the end of January in Las Vegas, which was attended by as many as 20 member companies, and they reported solid commercial returns. The exhibition resulted from a strategic agreement between VeronaFiere and Hanley Wood Exhibitions.

“The development of initiatives abroad is one of the objectives of the 2010-2014 Business Plan to increase turnover, cover new market areas and offer our clients even more support through value-added services focused on business,” said Giovanni Mantovani, Director General and CEO of VeronaFiere. “The agreement with such a qualified and representative partner as Confindustria Marmomacchine will help us achieve these objectives even more quickly, to the entire benefit of the company system in a sector of excellence for ‘Made in Italy’ technology and design.”

“As an acknowledged landmark in the national natural stone and related technology [field], Confindustria Marmomacchine is convinced that the partnership with VeronaFiere is a vital opportunity for sharing and developing the best strategies for promoting and strengthening Italian leadership in the stone and related processing technologies sector on an international scale - especially in view of growing competition on world markets and the challenges that await us over the next few years,” said Flavio Marabelli, the Honorary President of Confindustria Marmomacchine.