“Contract Business Area” passed with a remarkable presence of foreign visitors, a trend that could already be appreciated during the opening day and that invites optimism

At Feria Valencia, in the framework of the great Spanish ceramic industry event, the “Contract Business Area” began, an initiative launched by Cevisama in collaboration with Unex (Business Association of Habitat, its Internationalization and Habitat) for provide manufacturers with the keys to entering or growing in this channel, especially in markets with high development potential such as Latin America. The day was marked by the visit of outstanding professionals of architecture, interior design and decoration linked to the contract business – integral equipment of large spaces, public or private, such as hotels, office complexes or residential-

The architect Fernando Vázquez Arteaga, the Milan-based designer Santiago Miranda and the Costa Rican Adrián Saballos opened the ‘Contract Business Area’ series of conferences. Arteaga highlighted the “great opportunity offered by projects in Asia, despite the cultural shock that it entails”. The developer noted that “Asia, and specifically China, is a market that highly values quality, novelty and innovation.” For his part, Santiago Miranda explained the Italian philosophy of the project and the union between designer and company, “a key element of Italian success in the contract sector”. Meanwhile, Saballos recommended that Spanish firms “deepen the Latin American market”, of which he highlighted “their commitment to increasingly sustainable projects”.

The day continued with the participation of prominent prescribers such as José Antonio Rivera, project manager of the largest luxury hotel chain in Mexico and Central America, Mexicans Jack Zyman and José Antonio Garagarza, the architect Pietro Stagno, the Portuguese Carlos Cunnha and Valencian architect José María Tomás.

On the other hand, Cevisama hosted the international press conference of Ascer (Spanish Association of Ceramic Tile and Pavement Manufacturers), in which the main figures of the sector have been unveiled. As explained by the president of Ascer, Joaquín Piñón, exports from the ceramic sector in the last year reached a value of more than 2 billion euros, an increase of 10 compared to the previous year. The Ascer Ceramic Prizes were presented at the event.

The information sessions organized by ICEX (Institute of Foreign Trade also took place in Cevisama. And they have done so with the conference “How to improve the positioning of Spanish tile in the United States in the face of competition from emerging countries”, led by Rocamador Rubio, head of the habitat and tile department of the ICEX office in Miami.