The national president of AICC Mariano Roberto Mecenero: “An extraordinary international event that will showcase the excellence of Italian leather culture and leadership.”
The province of Vicenza will host the 3rd IULTCS EuroCongress 2022, an international traveling event, assigned for the next edition to Italy, and more precisely to the territory that includes the leather district of Arzignano, one of the most established and qualified in the world.
The convention will be held September 18 – 20 and its headquarters will be the Vicenza Fairgrounds, whose pavilions are able to gather thousands of people; the ‘Sala Palladio’ (featuring 700 seats) will be used as a conference room to host the interventions of scientists, university professors, entrepreneurs and trade managers. The date chosen by the European committee is not causal: the event anticipates LineaPelle and Simac Tanning Tech fall 2022 editions, scheduled September Wednesday 21st to Friday 23rd in Milan. The organizing committee set up a pick-up service, especially meant for foreign operators, that will take the EuroCongress’ attendees directly to Milan by bus on Wednesday morning. The event is promoted by the Italian Association of Leather Chemists (AICC), chaired by the local businessman Mariano Roberto Mecenero, resident of the Arzignano area and connaisseur of the territory.
Giancarlo Lovato President of the 3rd EuroCongress IULTCS 2022
Giancarlo Lovato, also from Vicenza and currently national secretary of the AICC, has been appointed as President of the IULTCS EuroCongress 2022. “Even if there is almost a year and a half to go – explains Roberto Mariano Mecenero, in an exclusive released to us in mid-May – we already started to work hard in order to set up the whole event. Given the complexity of the organization, we have appointed three commissions, which will respectively deal with communication, technical aspects and logistics. The first and third are already at work, while the second will do so shortly. The abstracts of the speakers will be reported in Italian and a simultaneous English translation will be provided for those who request it. In the last edition of the IULTCS World event in Dresden, held in 2019, there were about 450 attendees; it won’t be easy to reach such figures but we are confident to hit 400, also by offering final year students of professional schools in the leather sector the opportunity to participate.”
Trade operators are already eagerly awaiting the event: what are the rumors? It is going to be an amazing event! We will live up to expectations and we will work hard, together with the great team in the process of being established and which includes the entire Italian leather production chain, in order to even more consolidate the leadership that our companies and organizations have earned thanks to their commitment and craftiness. I would like to highlight the importance of the event on a scientific and technological level given the presence of excellent international speakers. It will be an unmissable opportunity also for the operators in our country, not only for those in the tanning area of Arzignano, but also for those operating in Tuscany, Campania and Lombardy, all districts boasting enormous growth potential. EuroCongress 2022 will be an opportunity for Italian and foreign companies to learn about, among other things, the latest technological innovations, the development of the recycling process and the safety standards in the workplace.
Why has Vicenza been chosen as the headquarters of the Congress? This choice has been done according to the large fairground’s capacity, but also to the wide range of hotel available – this city is already renowned internationally due to goldsmith fairs that are usually held here. Also, our foreign guests will have the chance to admire the Basilica Palladiana or Palladio’s villas. Technically, the choice was successful because the Arzignano district will be an integral part of the event: at least half a day will be dedicated to a guided tour, with a visit to some tanneries, to the purification plants and to the rest of the related industries that make up the district. A key point is that the local business setup is much admired, as it is considered a technological leader and therefore our excellence is taken as a model.
At an organizational level, you are establishing partnerships with prestigious players: can you tell us something about that? AICC will be honored to be sided by important associations such as Unic, the Veneto Leather District, Unpac, Assomac and other important bodies in the leather supply chain. We are still waiting for some response: the opportunity to collaborate side by side for this unique event will allow us to forge important relationships of human and professional growth. We deeply believe in the teamwork to become a more cohesive and, for this reason, stronger group. We will show the excellence of the Italian leather industry to an international audience, which has always looked to us as a guide and reference.
You live and work in the Arzignano area: how do you explain the presence of such an important district at an international level? They were able to stand out thanks to decades of sacrifices and to the inventiveness of our entrepreneurs, the love they have dedicated to their companies and the assistance of trade associations and other on-site organizations. The Chiampo valley is known all over the world as a rich and flourishing district, but in the last decade gigantic steps forward have been made, especially from the environmental point of view, also by virtue of the large investments in the purification field. There is another important social aspect to underline: in addition to economic well-being brought to the citizens, in these cities job opportunities related to the tanning sector grew exponentially, especially for foreigners, who are mostly employed in tanneries. This phenomenon has lasted for decades and now the children of these foreigners go to school with ours, and they are well integrated into our society. In recent years there have been no major episodes of intolerance and this is an excellent sign of integration, greatly helped by the chance of having a good job.
As AICC president, are you worried about the situation arisen by the pandemic? For 15 months now, the market has been experiencing the difficulties that everyone can see, because consumption has slowed down a lot. But our entrepreneurs, I feel I can say all of them, have not given up: they have gritted their teeth, they have rolled up their sleeves and now they are ready to start again with enthusiasm, aiming at returning to be the market’s protagonists as they have been for many decades. We foresee a sparkle, lively future, and we feel the desire to restart with new ideas and products to launch on the market. Regarding the EuroCongress, we are confident that in September 2022 the Covid emergency will be just a memory and that at that time the companies may have already recovered part of the turnover lost in 2020 and in the first half of this year.
www.iultcs2022italy.org