Milan, Italy: The 40th edition of Mostra Convegno Expocomfort (MCE), the biennial international exhibition, held in Milan from March 15 to 18, closed with record results and offered networking opportunities for building business relationships across sanitary and HVACR industries, with more than 134 countries participating, event organiser Reed Exhibitions has announced.

MCE recorded a rise in Italian visitors from the central and southern parts of the country, the announcement said, and added that it also saw a rise in attendees from European countries and Asia, and a double-digit increase in visitor figures from Cyprus, Iceland, Latvia, Moldavia, Czech Republic, Serbia and Ukraine, compared to the 2014 edition.

Sharing figures presented in the second report by Cresme, and revealed at the inaugural conference, Reed Exhibitions said that the current plant engineering industry in Italy earned revenues of just under € 46 billion in 2015, putting Italy in third place among European countries. It added that around € 19 billion of total turnover came from the sanitary and HVACR industries, that have reported an overall 2.2% rise in 2015 (source: Anima), with some positive signs from exporting figures (+1.4 %) representing over 60% of total revenues expected in 2016.

Innovation, efficiency, sector integration and convergence and competencies summed up MCE, the organiser claimed, with Oltre la Classe A, aimed at highlighting the technological excellence being the common thread running through the four-day exhibition.

“Labgrade sustainable competition”, the new initiative aimed at bridging the academic and professional worlds – a competition among the top 50 postgraduate students coming from the best universities in the world, was reportedly another highlight.

“We are incredibly proud of the outstanding results that MCE 2016 has achieved, thanks also to the partnership with the leading trade associations in the industry, including Aicarr, Angaisa, Anima, Assistal,” said Massimiliano Pierini, Managing Director of Reed Exhibitions Italia.