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March
20, 2003
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ACTIVITIES
BEGIN AT THE MILAN ANNUAL MEETING
IDB
president meets with private sector and media executives
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center for participants at the IDB Annual Meeting
of the Board of Governors at the Fiera Milano
exposition center. Friendly and very professional
Italian hosts advise participants on travel, banking,
postal services and transportation, and they answer
a variety of questions about logistics. (Photo
by Diego Tortini) |
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MILAN,
Italy--Preparatory activities leading up to the Annual
Meeting of the IDB's Board of Governors on Monday, March
24 today included a series of field visits to local
industries as part of a seminar on small- and medium-size
businesses.
Participants in the seminar "Financing Private
Sector Development: An Integral Approach" visited
the nearby Brianza/Monza industrial district. Participants
saw how the district's dynamic wood and furniture cluster
increases the competitive position and access to international
markets of participating firms.
The Brianza district is one of Italy's oldest industrial
areas, with a 200-year tradition in furniture making.
Seminar participants heard factory owners explain how
the industrial district developed over decades, and
adapted to profound economic and social changes. They
described how the small firms, usually family-owned
and operated, collaborate to be able to compete with
larger industries and even break into foreign markets.
As part of the visit, the participants toured a vocational
school that trains wooden furniture technicians. The
school, in the Lissone district, has 1,000 students
ages 14-19, who graduate with diplomas in cabinetry.
The students have access to computers and a library
stocked with design journals from around the world.
The seminar participants also visited Fluo, a company
that designs, manufactures and sells beds. The company
is made up of four small firms: a frame maker, a mattress
maker, a linen manufacturer, and a marketing firm.
"As some of the Brianza businessmen pointed out,
the industrial district model might not be exportable,"
said Carlos Jarque, manager of the IDB's Sustainable
Development Department, "but the methodology certainly
is. We have lots to learn from the Italian industrial
districts on how to best develop small- and medium-size
enterprises, combing the efforts of the private and
public sectors. He added that the IDB is financing a
Brazilian-Italian initiative to create industrial districts
in Brazil.
IDB
president meets local leaders
IDB President Enrique V. Iglesias, began his activities
in Milan visiting Roberto Formigoni, president of
the Lombardy Region, and Gabriele Albertini, mayor
of Milan. He also visited the installations of the
Fiera Milano, the impressive convention center where
the IDB Board of Governors meeting will take place.
Iglesias also met with representatives of the Italian
private sector and with the editors of the major Milan
media.
The seminar on private sector development will continue
tomorrow. Other seminars set for tomorrow will examine
the strategy for social inclusion, rural development,
and the role of information technology in strengthening
democratic institutions.
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Entrance
to the Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the IDB at
the Fiera Milano.
Registration
at the IDB Annual Meeting in Milan, Italy
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