Fashion and Personal Accessories and Shanghai World Expo 2010

The meeting organized by UniCredit Banca d'Impresa ended with the signing of a memorandum of understanding between FIAMP - Federazione Italiana dell'Accessorio Moda e Persona (the Italian Federation for Fashion and Personal Accessories Italian and the top management of the Shanghai World Expo Group, the Chinese government company set up in 2004 to supervise the organization of the Shanghai World Exhibition that will be held in 2010, which was presented to the international press a whole ago as the greatest world exhibition ever in the history of mankind.

Thanks to the support of UniCredit Banca d'Impresa, which is backing FIAMP in a project for the commercial penetration of China with Made in Italy accessories (footwear, leather goods, eyewear and gold/jewelry), at the beginning of the week, in Milan, the Shanghai Expo Group's top management met up - at the central office of UniCredit, which initiated the first contacts in Shanghai with the delegation - with the representatives of FIAMP and the four participating Associations (AIMPES, ANCI, ANFAO and FEDERORAFI) to study possible synergies. A representative from the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade also attended the meeting at UniCredit with the referents of the project.

The Shanghai Expo Group is extremely interested in importing quality products and, in particular, promoting new brands in the field of fashion and personal accessories. This is why particular attention has been paid to the FIAMP project, which includes a System initiative in China with the creation of a showroom/sales outlet in Shanghai for small and medium Italian enterprises, which do not have an internationally recognized name, but are still an expression of 'Made in Italy' quality excellence.

At the end of the meeting, FIAMP Chairman, Alessandro Biffi and the General Manager of the Shanghai Expo Group - Racing Commercial, Qui Ping, signed a memorandum stressing their common interest in working together to develop concrete business relations aimed at highlighting the presence of 'Made in Italy' accessories in China. Two forms of cooperation were also discussed to structure the commercial penetration of the Asiatic country, and the two parties' relevant competences will be detailed by March. During the two days in Milan, the Chinese delegation also visited several showrooms and saw a number of collections from FIAMP related sectors.

The Shanghai Expo Group's visit to Italy ended with a meeting with the General Assistant Manager of UniCredit Banca d'Impresa, Gianni Coriani, and forms of cooperation between the Bank and the important Chinese Institution were discussed.

The 'Fashion and Personal Accessories' Sector (Footwear + Leather goods + Eyewear + Gold/Jewelry) represents an annual turnover of 18 billion Euros in Italy, with 70% intended for export. There are 31,633 production companies, with almost 250 thousand employees.In 2005, Italian-Chinese trade in the field of accessories amounted to 1,419 million Euros for imports to Italy (+36% compared to 2004) and 143 million for exports to China (-4% compared to 2004).