#CECEatBAUMA – let’s rewind!

The 32nd edition of bauma, the world’s leading trade fair for construction machinery, building material machines, mining machines, construction vehicles and construction equipment, took place in Munich from 8th to 14th April, marking its biggest edition to date. With more than 620,000 visitors from over 200 countries and around 3,700 exhibitors from 63 countries, bauma 2019 generated the best results in the exhibition’s 65-year history.

Advertisement

bauma, being CECE’s Gold Exhibition Partner, CECE was glad to attend the fair and to give its own contribution through a series of meetings and events. Let us take you through the #CECEatBAUMA week!

The busy #CECEatBAUMA week started for us already on Sunday, when we began the day with the CECE Executive Committee meeting at the fairgrounds. At 5 pm all eyes were on the bauma Innovation Award ceremony. This prize recognised the most relevant innovations being showcased at the fair. Later on, in the Munich Residence, the invitation-only Opening of bauma 2019 took place with words of welcome from Klaus Dittrich of Messe München. European Commissioner Günther Oettinger and Canadian Ambassador Stéphane Dion also delivered speeches. In both occasions, CECE was represented by Enrico Prandini, its President, who also served on the jury of the bauma Innovation Award.

Monday, themed as the Canada Day, was the day when the doors of bauma finally opened to the public. CECE Secretary General Riccardo Viaggi moderated the Canada Day on 'Construction and Infrastructure' - the event shed light on the prospects of the Canadian construction industry, opportunities for mechanical and plant engineers and the impact of the free trade agreement CETA. The Canada Day was co-organised by CECE's German member association VDMA in the framework of the bauma forum.

An important moment for CECE's international relations occurred on Tuesday, 9th April, when the official ceremony of the signing of the CECE iCEMA Memorandum of Understanding took place. The document sets the terms of understanding between CECE iCEMA in order to establish bilateral cooperation between the two associations. The Ceremony was hosted by CECE President Enrico Prandini together with iCEMA President Arvind Garg with a special opening speech by MEP Jan Zahradil, Vice-Chair of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament. Later on in the day CECE celebrated its 60th anniversary with a Celebratory Cocktail Reception hosted by the CECE President Enrico Prandini with a special appearence of Stefan Rummel, Managing Director of Messe München.

Wednesday, 10th of April, was the Press Day for us, when we have hosted a CECE Press Conference. CECE President Enrico Prandini presented our main priorities at the European level. He also presented the CECE Annual Economic Report by launching our brand new video. We have started the day with the CECE Steering Group and the General Assembly meetings and have also participated in the International Associations Committee meeting. This annual meeting with leaders of the global associations, hosted this year by our partner KOCEMA (Korea construction equipment manufacturers association), is a great opportunity for exchange on latest business and economic trends.

The next day of the trade fair we have started with a bilateral meeting on skills with our Korean partner KOCEMA. We continued the day with our event “Digital Construction: R&D funding needs and opportunities from the EU”, where three representatives from the European Commission took part in the workshop: Fulvia Raffaelli (DG GROW), Jürgen Tiedje (DG RTD) and Arian Zwegers (DG CONNECT). The point of view of contractors was presented by Ralf Lüddemann (HDB) and Norbert Pralle (ENCORD).

The event was introduced by an opening speech from CECE President Enrico Prandini and Nicole Schmitt, Exhibition Group Director, Messe München, whereas CECE Secretary General Riccardo Viaggi and ECCREDI President Sue Arundale concluded the workshop with their closing remarks, presenting a proposal on a Co-programmed European Partnership on Built Environment and Construction.

#digitalconstruction was the theme of Friday, April 12th. Within the framework of the bauma forum 'Digitisation in construction – Projects and practical applications at home and abroad' event took place where CECE Secretary General Riccardo Viaggi contributed to the discussion by presenting CECE's recent project on digitalisation of the construction equipment sector. On the same day we had organised an internal working meeting on digitalisation with CECE's experts on the topic. This was our last official meeting scheduled for the week.

It was a real pleasure to meet so many interesting people from the entire construction value chain and discover all the brand-new technologies of the construction equipment sector. We are happy we could be part of bauma 2019 and are looking forward to the next editions!