WCA March 2021

Industry news

“The magic world of metalworking” at fieramilano

A press conference for the South Korean public was held in February to present EMO Milano 2021, an exhibition for the metalworking and machine tool manufacturing industry, scheduled to take place at fieramilano, near Milan, Italy, in October 2021. Speakers at the web-streamed meeting were Luigi Galdabini, general commissioner of EMO Milano 2021; So-Ahn Kang, director general at Komma, the Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers’ Association; and Vincenzo Calì, Italian trade commissioner – Italian Trade Agency Seoul – Korea. The conference involved more than 40 participants, including machine tool manufacturers, representatives of local organisations and journalists.

Promoted by CECIMO, the European Association of Machine Tool Industries, EMO Milano 2021 will take place at fieramilano Rho from 4 to 9 October. According to forecasts processed by Oxford Economics, after a 23.4 per cent fall registered in 2020, 2021 should bring about a recovery in machine tool consumption worldwide – expected to grow by 18.4 per cent to €61bn (Asia €33bn, +15.6 per cent; Europe €17bn, +23.5 per cent; and the Americas €12bn, +19.7 per cent). Mr Galdabini stated, “We are very confident of the success of EMO Milano 2021, which represents the leading exhibition dedicated to the world manufacturing industry. Availability of vaccines, forecasts of demand growth in all the main areas

and Dubai, and a champion of UAE industry. During this period, Ducab has raised the bar globally for quality products manufactured in the UAE. As the new group CEO, I look forward to Mohammed A Al Mutawa continuing to work with all our stakeholders to grow Ducab, taking more ‘Made in UAE’ products to the world, and developing local talent within the sector.” In recent years, Ducab group has both diversified and expanded its geo- graphical footprint. Export markets have grown from just under 15 countries to over 30 countries in the last decade, with ventures such as Ducab Aluminium Company (DAC) and Ducab Metals Business (DMB) both contributing to growth. During the last year in particular, the company’s factories remained fully op- erational, with health and safety proto- cols put in place and office employees adopting a work-from-home approach. The company cited resilience and business continuity as being corner- stones of its strategy, supported by strong supply chain partners and prudent financial management. Ducab Group www.ducab.com of the world and important incentive measures for investment in new production technologies in Italy: these are all elements that make up a really favourable context.” The Italian government has set up special fiscal incentives, which consist of tax credit of up to 50 per cent, for Italian companies investing in 2021 and 2022 in new machine tools, robots, automation systems, 4.0 and digital technologies. This is an important business opportunity for the exhibitors, in particular for Korean machine tools builders, as South Korea is third in Italian machine tool import ranking. CECIMO www.emo-milano.com

Ducab appoints new group CEO Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al Mutawa has been appointed as CEO of Ducab Group, becoming the first Emirati to hold the position. He has been with Ducab, one of the UAE’s largest manufacturing businesses, since

2015 and most recently served as CEO of Ducab Cable Business, where he focused on strengthening market leadership in the UAE while growing the wire and cables export business that now generates around 25 per cent of revenues and sells to over 20 countries. As group CEO, he takes over from Andrew Shaw, who led Ducab Group for the past 13 years and will now take the role of board advisor for the company. Ducab’s first Emirati group CEO appointment is the result of a carefully planned succession strategy in line with the company’s UAE national development programme. UAE nationals currently hold approxi- mately two thirds of the senior management positions within group. Dr Ahmad Bin Hassan Al Shaikh, chairman of Ducab Group, said, “Since Mohammed joined Ducab, he has demonstrated great leadership qualities and a passion for developing

❍ Mohammed Al Mutawa, CEO of Ducab group

the company as a world-class UAE manufacturing enterprise. “This transition is evidence of Ducab’s commitment to the sustainable growth of the business and the UAE economy, paving the way towards a bright future upon the strong foundation of successes established under Andrew’s leadership. On behalf of the company, I would like to thank Andrew for his years of dedication to Ducab and congratulate Mohammed on his new role.” Engineer Jamal Salem Al Dhaheri, vice- chairman of Ducab Group, said, “Over the past four decades, Ducab has been a shining example of a successful partnership between Abu Dhabi

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Wire & Cable ASIA – March 2021