Vicenzaoro Highlights, January 2024: A Catalyzing Community

An Opening Ceremony to remember for Vicenzaoro January 24, which began with greetings from IEG’s new president, Maurizio Renzo Ermeti, who, in his first inauguration speech, mentioned the most prominent moments of the exhibition's evolutionary path. He particularly dwelt on the last eight years, recalling how the merger between Fiera di Rimini and Vicenza, at the time strongly desired by the respective presidents Lorenzo Cagnoni and Matteo Marzotto with the consequent birth of IEG Italian Exhibition Group, has led to the achievement of great results, first and foremost the creation of the "twins shows" in JGT Dubai and SIJE in Singapore. The stage at the Palladio Theatre was then filled with other exceptional guests, already regulars of the Boutique Show, introduced, as usual, by Marco Carniello, Global Exhibition Director, Italian Exhibiton Group S.p.A.. First of all, the local authorities, Giacomo Possamai, Mayor of Vicenza, and Andrea Nardin, President of the Province of Vicenza, who then passed the word to Claudia Piaserico, President of Federorafi, representing all the gold and jewelry sector’s national associations, Luca Zaia, President of the Veneto Region and Matteo Zoppas, President of ITA – Italian Trade Agency for the business development and internationalization of Italian companies abroad. Closing the circle was Adolfo Urso, Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, with a written message underlining the overall positive context of the sector. Looking at the figures, exports grew by 11.3% in the first nine months of 2023, exceeding 8 billion euros and are still positive, despite the widely expected slowdown in the third quarter of 2023 (+4.2% compared to 13.7% in the second quarter and 16.2% in the first). This was Federorafi's snapshot of the sector (processed by Confindustria Moda’s Study Center on ISTAT data). Switzerland (15% of the total, +31.2% compared to 2022), the United States (13.4%, +5.3% compared to 2022) and France (10.2%, +15.8 compared to 2022) were confirmed as the main destination markets. Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Canada were holding back, while the hemorrhage towards Russia and Ukraine continued (-24.6%). Arezzo, Vicenza and Alessandria with Milan were the poles where the largest export flows were concentrated. In the first nine months of 2023, the cumulative figure for company turnover recorded in the economic survey among members grew by 8.1%. After the double-digit increase in the first quarter (+11.3% trend), growth slowed down (+7.2% April-June, +5.9% July-September). Productivity fell slightly (-1.8% compared to the same period in 2022). The employment figure, on the other hand, confirmed its positive trend with 1,336 more employees since December 2022 (+4.1%). From these rosy conditions, it is easy to understand the reasonable and justified optimism with which this edition, already defined as historic, has opened. Vicenzaoro is an increasingly appreciated business showcase around the world, a place for global networking, trends, innovation, information and training, a reference point for the entire gold and jewelry supply chain, from producers to packaging and services, with the best of Made in Italy production from the main national manufacturing districts as well as international excellence, equal to 40% of the over 1,300 participating companies arriving from 37 foreign countries. An attractive line-up for the 500 hosted buyers from 72 countries - United States, UAE, China and France first of all - thanks to the support of ITA’s global network of offices. Also worth mentioning is the artistic exploit of the ceremony given by Matteo Caccia, theatre actor, storyteller and radio journalist, who at the opening, recited a monologue centered on the 70 years of the Vicenza event, founded in 1954 and therefore, the longest-running show on record.