The EIA celebrates its 25th anniversary on October 20, during Eima show in Bologna

The EIA celebrates its 25th anniversary on October 20, during Eima show in Bologna

The event was held in Bologna Italy during the EIMA exhibition with the presence of 60 people presenting the members of the association who took the opportunity to have real meeting with colleagues, to raise a toast and to give recognition to our founders’ fathers in this special evening.

Moshi Berenstein (Netafim France) the president of the association opened the event by welcoming the members and guests with an update on market dynamics and the place of the association in the evolving European water eco-system:

“Today is a symbolic day in the life of the association as we celebrate our 25th anniversary. It’s a moment to appreciate the excellentwork done by so many people who donated their time for the benefit of the sector and also a time to look back and ask ourselves how influencing we were during the last 25 yearsof activity? It’s hard to answer directly what was the impact of the EIA, but I have no doubts we had success in creating the recognition of the irrigation in Europe, transferring knowledge and promoting standardization ».

And he added : “Today, we look on who we are,and we see a young and dynamic association, with many members where 27 new members joined the association only in the course of this year. We also see dramatic changes happening in water and irrigation in Europe, in a way we’ve never experienced before. Something important is happening in water management and we are there byactively responding to the need, promoting the work of the irrigation sector and adapting our businesses to the EU discussions on water…

During the event the association recognized, in a ceremony of speeches and trophies, the outstanding contribution of 11 of our senior members and previous presidents: Bernard Lamy, Christian Rouxel, Michel Histel, Paul Van Breda, Lennart Gorranson, Didier Comte, Olivier Debart, Paolo Felix, Carlo Fontana, Damir Cizmek and Jean-Paul Séchoy.

This cocktail was also an opportunity for our members to discuss together the evolution of our industry over a drink, and to expand their professional network.

The event was closed with a call for all EIA members to join forces, recruit more professionals to join us and to participate in the relevant Working Group which suits their competencies.