Interview with Mr. Bellina, President of ACIMAF

In the course of 2012 ACIMAF, the Italian Association of Wire and Cable Machinery Manufacturers, has developed many initiatives in support of the member companies. And many are planned for the coming year. To take stock of the activities carried out during the year, make some forecasts on the future actions and talk about the situation of the wire and cable industry, we interviewed the president of the association, Mr. Ferruccio Bellina.   - Let's start with the year just ended. What projects have you completed? The most important event of the year undoubtedly was wire Düsseldorf, for which we have also planned many promotional activities in collaboration with ICE, the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade. A considerable thing was the presence of a booth at the fair with interpreter service and internet point, meant for all members, even those who were not present with their own stand. We also gave each ACIMAF member thirty entry tickets to the event, to be distributed to customers or employees, not to mention the ACIMAF bags, that we produced as a gadget, and that became part of the visual panorama of each wire Düsseldorf fair.   - The international commitment of ACIMAF goes even further... This year - always in collaboration with ICE - we also organized the collective participation of ACIMAF members with an Italian pavilion both on wire China and on wire India, which are relevant showcases for the Italian companies. I would also like to add to the various activities aimed at the internationalization of the associated companies, the renewal of the membership to the Wire Association International: thanks to an agreement between ACIMAF and WAI, all ACIMAF members have become this year also WAI members, so in addition to receiving the magazine, they have the opportunity to take advantage of all the resources and benefits offered to the members of this association.   - The association has worked this year on another level: internet. Yes, the new ACIMAF website, which will be much more modern and efficient, is in an advanced stage of preparation, and will be launched soon. In addition, thanks to an agreement we signed this year with the portal expometals.net, we gave visibility to all our members on this website, that publishes press releases, reports and news of the association, in real time, reaching a very broad spectrum of operators of the market.   - This year you have planned an event of the highest importance, which will take place in 2013. The international technical conference on the wire and cable industry, organized by WAI, IWMA, CET and ACIMAF with the participation of the German, Austrian and French associations, in collaboration with Promos, will be held this year in Milan, on November 3 and 4, at the prestigious Palazzo Turati building. We are proud to have brought this event to Italy. It will be a huge opportunity of visibility and business for the participating companies.   - Lets' speak of 2013. In addition to the conference in Milan, which will surely be among the biggest events of the year, there are other important dates for ACIMAF members. In collaboration with ICE, which will totally resume its activities starting from this year, ACIMAF is going to organize an Italian spot at the fair Interwire in Atlanta in April, an Italian pavilion at wire Moscow in June and one at wire Southeast Asia in Bangkok in September. Then, for the first time, there will be the presence of an Italian pavilion at wire South America, to be held in October. I recall that Brazil is one of the fastest-growing markets...   - What else will ACIMAF work on in 2013? This spring there will be a refresher course for all members, which will be held at the headquarters of the UNI institution. This initiative is of great value for the qualification and professional development of our members. Then, there will be the renewal of the membership to WAI, which takes place every year in September; the new website will be finalized; and of course we will continue the institutional activities and the usual information work of the association.   - Since you've known the market for many years, we'd like to ask you a brief assessment of the current situation. The market situation is difficult, it is needless to hide it, especially for Italian companies, which are burdened with different weights in terms of taxation, borrowing costs and inefficiency of the system. We have a load of expenses that put us at a disadvantage compared to international competitors and it is only thanks to the strong will of the businessmen and the flexibility of Italian companies that we still manage to go on. I would like to add that the continuing disadvantage situation prevents us from being optimistic about the future if no concrete actions will be taken at a national level. In a nutshell, we're scraping the bottom of the barrel.   - If you could make specific requests to the institutions of your country...? I would ask, as I said, to reduce the burden of taxation, the cost of money, and the inefficiencies of the system, such as the weight of bureaucracy and export insurances. The last government has not been able to stop the spending flow, and the word "simplification" has hovered in the air, without being applied.   - What can be done? What to do as a company? So far as possible, we should improve business performances, in terms of increased productivity or lower labor, improve energy savings, have lower operating costs, and develop marketing activities in international markets. Because we Italians are suited for export.   - What are you doing as ACIMAF in this regard? As an association we will carry out during the year an assessment on whether to organize trade missions to countries such as Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, areas with significant resources and facilities to be upgraded, where we believe there could be business opportunities for our members. Something like this was done years ago, for the first time in 1993, in Iran, where international competition predominated, and where we are now market leaders.   - Do you want to conclude with a few words of summary and wishes for 2013? It is difficult to speak of optimism for the future. I confirm that the great confidence in the ability of Italian entrepreneurs remains. And hope that a national policy will finally find ways to support these efforts.