IMM Sets 2007 Goals

CARRARA, Italy – Internazionale Marmi e Macchine (IMM) will step up promotion of Italian marble worldwide and support research projects during the next year.
The marble trade group will participate in the development of the Interregional project (Inter-Reg) in conjunction with the Italian Trade Commission (ICE) and seven Italian Regions. In addition, IMM will develop workshops for the stone companies in the United States, Canada, Kuwait, Russia, Turkey, Iran, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania and India
IMM will also participate in stone events in Russia, Dubai and Qatar, as well as the organization of missions of U.S. stone dealers to the CarraraMarmotec expo in May.
Promotional campaigns will cover overseas missions as well as visits of architects and operators, technical workshops, high-level training courses, developed either alone or in conjunction with Toscana Promozione, ICE, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Italian and foreign trade associations.
IMM will also support the Tra.S.L.A. project (Network for Technology Transfer in the Apuan Stone Industry), working with universities, research centers and companies seeking innovation in quarrying and processing processes.
IMM will also back the effort of Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara and the Chamber of Commerce of Massa Carrara to develop the micro-structural mapping of the marble fields of Carrara.
“It is a challenge that the local companies must face by working on several fronts: from process and product innovation to the promotion of local raw materials through a marketing strategy inspired by a proper use of the “Carrara” trade mark,” says Giancarlo Tonini, IMM president.
“They need measures that cannot come up of their own accord, but must be carefully developed so that they can be fitted into a broader plan, with a view to a higher industrialisation of the stone sector, with investments that many companies are already bravely making,” he adds. “That’s the only way for us to innovate and respond to competition.”
“Our aim is to give a substantial contribution to the development of a broader plan, aimed at helping the productive system of the Apuan Alps and Versilia find a new position on the global markets,” says Paris Mazzant, IMM CEO.