Catch the opportunities offered by a buoyant market and explore the great potential in the electrical system components, energy, and testing and measuring instruments sectors. These are the objectives that have led Italian firms to return to Russia for the 2008 edition of Elektro , an international exhibition for electronics, electrotechnical products, technologies, equipment and materials that will take place in Moscow at the Zao Expocentr from the 9^th to the 13^th June. As it was last year, Italian firms will take part in the event under the aegis of the Italian Trade Commission (ICE), which has organised an official delegation as part of its promotional activities for the current year.

Thanks to the booming construction industry - residential as well as commercial and industrial (and not just in the Russian capital or in St Petersburg, but also in the areas of Krasnodar, Rostov e Stavropol) - and to the development of an ever more integrated electricity grid, this Moscow fair – at its 17^th edition – represents one of the most important events in Eastern Europe for the electrotechnics industry (residential and industrial systems, cables, electrotechnics, energy production, distribution and transport equipment) and electronics industry (testing and measuring equipment, microelectronics, industrial automation).

In Russia, ‘Made in Italy’ products in this sector have not yet reached a breakthrough: their market share is only 3%, but in 2007 exports grew by 25%. There was a particularly strong showing in the energy transmission and distribution sectors, especially for transformers, where Italy is the fifth largest supplier with a market share of 12.5%. Italian firms were also well placed in the electrical boards and panels sector (sixth largest supplier with a 12% share) and in the electrical system components sector (where the market share is around 20% and suppliers range between the third and the eighth position depending on the product).

The figures for Russia confirm that 2007 was generally a positive year on the international markets for the Italian electrotechnics and electronics industry, whose turnover grew by 5.7% (+3.4% taking inflation into account), building on the positive trend started in 2005. According to the data supplied by the periodical Bulletin of the trade association Anie (www.anie.it), output jumped by over 20% compared to the end of 2001. “The growth gap between output and turnover – explains Guidalberto Guidi, Anie’s President – is a clear indicator of the profound restructuring process that is ongoing in the national industry, especially in the larger enterprise. The level of activity in the small and medium enterprises, on the other hand, seems to have found a new momentum in some sectors”.

As far as exports are concerned, the Italian electrotechnics sector grew by 8.2% in the last year, thanks to an increase in demand in the most dynamic emerging economies, including Russia, where GDP increased by 8.1%. It is clearly a strategic market for Italy, and it is one of the countries where exports grew the most: +25.7%.