The technology sector has high hopes for this exhibition after three years of serious difficulties internationally and the prospects are said to be promising as the downward trend seems to have halted in 2006—Italian exports rose by almost 4% between January and July.

As well as offering the latest technology, a number of new initiatives will be launched at the new Simac-Tanning Tech. These include a conference on the CEC-Made-Shoe project, organised by the European Confederation of the Footwear Industry plus several new projects.

The ‘Small Firm Project’ will take a fresh look at the handicraft know-how of developing countries with a longstanding footwear and leather goods tradition, under which Assomac—the association that represents Italian manufacturers of machinery for the shoe, leathergoods and tannery industries—has produced a study for a pilot plant that can produce up to 50 pairs of footwear per day. The project envisages the use of inexpensive and efficient machinery to manufacture quality footwear with limited investment and is intended for small workshops already in operation, but in need of up-dated technology, and bodies or associations that intend to use the plant for employee training or to start up new small firms. The plant has already been presented in Kenya, Tunisia, Mali, Senegal and at the recent Meet in Africa in Cairo.

The second initiative, the ‘Tech Piel y Cuero’ project is being organised in conjunction with the Centro Estero of the Veneto Chambers of Commerce and plans business meetings between European and South American firms under which 50 operators from Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico and Uruguay will have a stand at their disposal for bilateral meetings with footwear manufacturers and tanners from Italy, France, Germany, Greece, Portugal and Spain.