The trade mission undertaken by the 12 Apulian businesses that partecipated in the "Contacto" initiative ended last week in Brussels. The initiative "Contacto" - launched by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (Ice) and the Apulia Region - started as a well-featured training and "on the job" programme and turned into a B2B meeting session in Brussels.
Giulio Patrizi, indoor designer, turned the products manufactured by the Apulian businesses into works of arts. The creative exhibition arranged by Patrizi had been positively appreciated by the guests who attended the vernissage and the show room at the Ice headquarters on Monday 26th May. In the next days, the exhibition represented an opportunity to establish a meeting point between the Apulian entrepreneurs and local importers, mainly represented by buyers, wholesalers and branch distributors who were invited to attend the event.
Following a first class training session, the enterpreneurs could meet the concrete requests of the demand represented by some Belgian professionals who expressed their favourable views on the "Made in Italy" manufacture. The event outlined a path of new trade contacts as a followed up to develope new business agreements.
"As far as the approach to foreign markets is concerned, in the most of the cases, trainers cannot see the positive effects of the training programmes they are running on the committed businesses" - explained Mr. Luigi Ferrelli, responsible for the ICE management training department in Rome - "in the case of Contacto, we consider as a good choice the combination of a trining programme with an operative on the job mission which let us testing the progress to be achieved by our businesses."
Ferrelli also stated "The appraisals expressed by the Belgian operators are due to the capacity proved by the Apulian enterpreneurs to be honourably up to the Made in Italy trademark in meeting the requests of the international market: a tank of creativity, professional know-how and quality brand that features the businesses involved in the project. Some of them have already reached a position in the international market and boast a longlasting experince in foreign trade through achieved by show rooms performance. We expect now to scale up a new market thus gathering strenghs and fostering cooperation among the Apulian businesses. This is meant to turn our presence in the Belgian market into real business opportunities"
The business meetings were attended by 8 out of 16 businesses involved in the Contacto initiative, namely: Angelo Nardelli, Dalena, I Pargoli, Must Uomo, Rossorame, Sartoria Moderna, Sucrette, Zezo.
