EIMA International, triumph of mechanics

The great event dedicated to agricultural mechanization, that attracted to Bologna trade fair business operators from 140 countries, ended with the record number of 285,000 visitors. A huge number of business meetings and an increasing media interest for an exhibition which is by far one of the biggest events devoted to green and agriculture

A success beyond all expectations was scored by EIMA International, the exhibition dedicated to agricultural mechanization ended on the evening of November 13 with an historical record of visitors. In the five days of the exposition, visitors reached the total amount of 285,000, with an increase of 21% compared with the previous edition (2014), and a number of foreign operators equal to 44,000, increased by 18%. The great event, promoted by the Italian Federation of agricultural machinery manufacturers FederUnacoma (Confindustria) – produced a huge number of business contracts, and offered to visitors an incredibly wide range of technologies realized by 1,900 exhibiting companies and displayed in the halls of the trade fair. The event represented also a celebration for the world of agriculture and mechanics, proven by a significant interest shown by social media and communication. Hundreds of journalists, coming from all over the world, gave alive descriptions of this event, while a wide audience of operators could follow the course of the exhibition thanks to EIMA Web TV, with over 40 tv reportages and 8 live events produced. More than 75,000 people were reached via Facebook with over 500,000 interactions (such as “like”, comments and sharing of advertisements). The members of EIMA Social Team of Image Line – Agronotizie/FederUnacoma produced over 1,000 multimedia contents, also allowing to follow the event on the web in the next months. But the 2016 edition of EIMA International was an event especially centred on foreign delegations – 80 in total, 70 of which promoted by FederUnacoma with the support and cooperation of the Italian Trade Agency ICE of the Ministry of Economic Development responsible for businesses internationalization. The co-shared initiative ICE-FederUnacoma produced itself about 15,000 visits to the stands of exhibiting companies and 3,000 ”business to business” meetings organized for members of delegations. Business operators came over from South America, Mediterranean and sub-Saharian Africa, the Middle East, South-East Asia, as well as from the Republics of the former Soviet Union, the Balkans and Oceania. For the first time ever the event was attended by delegations from Jordan, Kenya, Mozambique and Palestine. Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Iran and Peru sent the delegations with the highest number of members. In addition to official delegations, the event also hosted more than 40,000 foreign independent operators from 140 countries. The interest of both Italian and foreign visitors was shown to all sectors of the exhibition: from tractors to components, from irrigation to gardening, to bioenergy represented in the ”Energy Area” promoted by Itabia, and equipped to give a practical demonstration of technologies used for energy production from residues and agricultural products. Among many successful initiatives is worth mentioning the new EIMA Desk area, organized in collaboration with Unacma and the Comuni Fioriti d’Italia Competition (Flowery Towns Competition), sponsored within the “green initiatives”.

But in the final balance of EIMA International a central role was played by the technological level of the machinery exhibited. This edition starred the highest number of previews and latest products in the history of the exhibition and confirmed 25 brand new technological solutions awarded as ”Technical Innovations” and 54 awarded as ”Mentions”. ”This edition closes in a glorious way the cycle of EIMA International, that was organized in the current area of Bologna trade fair center – said the President of FederUnacoma Massimo Goldoni – pushing ourselves towards a future in which the Exhibition will change appearance thanks to the restructuring measures of the trade fair center planned by BolognaFiere. An entire area to be transformed, in order to host at its best an exposition considered as one of the top events of the sector, capable of hosting businesses and operators like no other event in the world”.