Sima 2020. The word to the French organizers

Isabel Alfano, director of SIMA and Frédéric Martin, president of AXEMA (the association of French manufacturers) addressed the audience of foreign journalists on the occasion of the presentation of the SIMA 2020 edition, held last September 16 in the French capital.

An edition that will probably be remembered as the most controversial after the decision announced in April by the organizers to move the fair in even years, more precisely from 8 to 12 November, thus going to overlap with the EIMA of Bologna. Everything ran smoothly as long as Alfano and Martin talked about the new entries that will be presented at the event next year, but the tension of the speakers was evident in the moment dedicated to the questions from the specialized press.

Requests for explanations and clarifications on the decision that inevitably triggered a clash between the two events and that for most of the experts will end within a couple of editions with the “death” of one of the two.

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«This profound change – Martin and Alfano replied almost together – is the result of a year of work with companies and farmers. The new date for the 2020 edition was not chosen against anyone, but taking into account the opinion of the producers and the availability of the Villepinte exhibition center in the last four months of next year».

«In 2022 – continued Alfano – the SIMa will turn one hundred years old and taking advantage of the important changes that are taking place in the world of agriculture, the event has decided to change the date but, be careful, the overlap will occur only next year, from the following edition we will try to anticipate in order not to repeat the overlap with EIMA».

«France – Martin continued – is the main agricultural manufacturer in Europe, as well as the first agricultural machinery market with Germany and wants to preserve the potential of its show».

At the moment, the SIMA finds itself chasing EIMA both in terms of number of visitors and number of exhibiting companies and the trend of the latest editions reflects a descending parable that is difficult to counteract without radical interventions.

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Both the speakers underlined that they will participate to Eima and that the two events can live together, with Sima more focused on machines and technologies for European fields and Eima on components, spare parts and specialized crops. A theory that already seems a bit unsustainable from the start, given that until now the big players of the sector have presented their news at Agritechnica in odd years and at Eima in the even ones, electing the Italian show to an all-around event for the world of agricultural mechanization and they now will have to decide if to be present to both events or to favor one at the expense of the other.

And if small and medium-sized companies are likely to be forced to make this choice, the same is true for international visitors, whose contribution is crucial to determine the success of the event globally. The way things are going, they will opt for one of the two events based on the quality of the exhibitors and the news presented.