June 13 - The ICE, the Agency for the promotion abroad and the internationalization of Italian firms, is organizing an institutional and business mission for the textile machinery sector in Ethiopia, to be held in Addis Ababa July 1-5. In collaboration with the trade association Acimit, ICE emphasizes, "Africa is, for Italian companies, a market with great growth prospects. The continent's GDP in 2011 grew by 3.75%, and in 2012 by about 6%. Ethiopia has registered, between 2004 and 2010, a GDP growth of 11.3%, ranking among the countries in the world with the highest rate of growth." The textiles and clothing industry is the most important sector of the Ethiopian economy, employing around 20% of the entire workforce. This favored, in the last five years, a very positive trend in Italian textile machinery exports directed to the country, reaching a market share of around 20% of the total. Italian exports hold significant shares in all segments of the industry, but especially in machines for the preparation of fibers and yarns and machines for cleaning and drying.

THE ACIMIT
Acimit is the Association of Italian manufacturers of machinery for the textile industry, and it includes Italian textile machinery companies active in various industries: spinning, weaving, knitting, textile finishing, packaging, washing with water and dry cleaning services, technical textiles and nonwovens. The main purpose of the Association (private and non-profit) is to promote the Italian textile machinery industry. In support of its activities, especially abroad, ACIMIT uses innovative tools: in particular, to promote knowledge of Italian textile machinery in the world, Acimit is able to offer all sorts of information on the activities of its members, and organize a wide range of promotional initiatives (exhibitions, publications, technology seminars) often in collaboration with ICE. Another important activity is information on trade issues, financial and technical resources that can meet the different markets so as to facilitate access.