Agricultural Machinery: the Balkans, a nearby market

EIMA South East Europe, the first edition of an exposition dedicated to agricultural machinery and equipment specifically for the Balkans and neighboring countries, is coming up in Tirana for a run from 13 to 15 June. The new review is organized by FederUnacoma in collaboration with Italian and Albanian institutions for the aim of promoting Made in Italy technologies for countries in which the mechanization gap compared to European Union standards is great but can be narrowed with the help of EU funds and Italian cooperation

The Balkans now have their own trade fair. EIMA South East Europe goes into its first edition 13 June in Tirana with 45 Italian manufacturing industries and the arrival of businesspeople from Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia as well as Greece, Romania and Turkey. The review has been organized by the Italian Federation of Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers, FederUnacoma, in collaboration with EKR (Enti KombetarRural), the Albanian Agricultural Agency, under the aegis of the Albanian Ministry of Agriculture and the University of Bari and with the support of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari and the Polytechnic and University of Albania in Tirana and the cooperation of the Levante and Zaragoza Trade Fair Agencies for an excellent sendoff and great expectations. FederUnacoma's specific experience gained with the organization of the biennial EIMA International in Bologna, EIMA Agrimach in New Delhi and Agrilevante in Bari is a guarantee of a rational format for categorizing models of merchandise exhibited and an efficient division of the exposition into two sections, static and dynamic. The static side will be held 13 and 14 June in the Tirana Expo Center  hosting the stands of the exhibiting industries and field trials are set for 15 June on the University of Tirana Experimental Farm in Kamez near the capital's airport for demonstration trials of mechanization for soil preparation, machinery and equipment for plant and crop protection and forage harvesting and components in the sector. All these items of machinery and equipment will be on exhibit first in the Tirana trade fair center then transported to the fields on the outskirts of the capital and put to work for viewing by the businesspeople and agricultural technicians intent on closing the South East Europe mechanization technologies gap compared general European standards. The contribution of the Albanian Agricultural Agency has taken on great importance, especially in involving businesspeople and farmers from around the Balkan region. Moreover, the arrival of the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari CIHEAM, (The International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies) committed to agronomic research and training in technical specializations, will bring a focus on the most important crops in the Balkan region to help promote the technologies which most closely correspond to the requirements and models of these farming enterprises. To facilitate the acquisition of machinery and equipment by farmers in Albania and elsewhere an assistance structure has been set up to handle requests for EC IPARD and Italian-Albanian development funds to work alongside local regulations to ensure advantageous terms for the purchase machinery which includes a 20% VAT exemption.