CEMATEX owner of ITMA, the world’s largest textile machinery show has announced that Italy will host the 17th edition of ITMA at the Fiera Milano Rho exhibition centre in Milan, from 12 to 19 November 2015. Fiera Milano won the international bid organised by CEMATEX, the owner of the ITMA show, after beating three other short-listed bidders from an original list of 12.

The high profile exhibition is returning to Milan after 20 years, and the news will be welcomed not only by the city itself but also by the region’s large textile machinery industry. “The award of ITMA 2015 to Fiera Milano is the clearest sign that by working together we can achieve a very competitive bid," stated Sandro Salmoiraghi, President of ACIMIT, the association of Italian textile machinery manufacturers.

"I thank Fiera Milano for all the efforts they have made to win the right to host the event,” continued Salmoiraghi, “I thank CEMATEX for having once again chosen Italy, and also all the Italian textile machinery manufacturers for their strong support of ACIMIT during the bidding process."

ITMA is an exhibition which most companies working in textiles like to attend. In 2007 the show attracted 118,000 visitors from 151 countries during its 16^th edition in Munich, over 80% of whom came from outside Germany. In 2015 the show is projected to take up 100,000 square metres net of the exhibition space in the Rho-Pero venue.

“We are very proud to announce this success today,” Fiera Milano General Manager Enrico Pazzali said. “ITMA is in fact much more than a big exhibition. It is a very special event which takes place every four years, and all the major exhibition centres in Europe which are large enough to host it are always very keen to win this important contract.

“The event has a special significance for us. It represents recognition of our expertise as well as the high quality of Fiera Milano’s services provided to exhibition organisers. But it is also the ‘jewel in the crown’ for the Italian textile machinery industry which leads the world in textile production and exports. For this reason all the associations within the textile industry, which have cooperated with Fiera Milano in various B2B events, have firmly supported and encouraged us in this bid.”

Mr Stephen R Combes, President of CEMATEX, stated: “We are delighted to announce that ITMA 2015 will be held in Milan. Our selection process took over a year and our investigations into all the short-listed venues were very thorough. We are extremely impressed with both the management team of Fiera Milano as well as the quality of the services and the infrastructure on-site, and we are convinced that we shall be offering our exhibitors and visitors a superb event there in 2015.”

“MP International (MPI) will be the organiser of our ITMA 2015 in Milan. MPI organised our ITMA ASIA shows in Singapore in 2001 and 2005, they are co-organiser of our ITMA ASIA + CITME shows in Shanghai, and they are currently organising our ITMA 2011 show in Barcelona. Over the last 10 years of working with us they have developed a highly experienced ITMA team and we are extremely confident of their ability.”

Mr James Chia, MPI Chairman, said: “We are privileged to be appointed to organise ITMA for the second time. The synergistic collaboration with CEMATEX and its association members will help to seamlessly put together a world-class showcase. By 2015, we will have 15 years of working relationship with CEMATEX. We are grateful to CEMATEX for the guidance and trust placed in us and we are fully committed to deliver the high quality that has been synonymous with the ITMA name over the last six decades.”

 ITMA is the world’s largest textile and garment machinery exhibition. It is held every four years in a different country and attracts a large number of highly qualified international visitors and top decision makers.