The UFI Board of Directors have elected Corrado Peraboni, CEO of Fiera Milano, as the President of UFI for 2018. The decision was made at a board meeting during UFI’s Open Seminar in Basel (Switzerland).
Hence, the UFI Presidential Trio for the 2016-17 term will comprise:
Andreas Gruchow, (Deutsche Messe AG), President 2016-2017, Corrado Peraboni (Fiera Milano, Italy), Incoming President, Sergey Alexeev (ExpoForum-International Ltd., Russian Federation), Outgoing President.
This decision becomes effective at the conclusion of the 83rd UFI Annual Congress, which runs from 9 – 12 November 2016 in Shanghai.
Corrado Peraboni has played a very active role within UFI for many years. He assumed the position of Vice-Chair of the European Chapter more than fifteen years ago before becoming Chair from 2004 – 2008. He has been a member of the UFI Executive Committee since 2004, and is currently the Secretary of this Committee. His extensive knowledge of the industry and total dedication to UFI over the years has proved instrumental in enabling the association to become the global voice of the exhibition industry that it is today.
As UFI Incoming President, Corrado Peraboni will work closely with the UFI President and Outgoing President to make up the Presidential Trio, managing UFI at the highest level and continuing to drive the association forward.
Sergey Alexeev, current UFI President, welcomed the election of Peraboni, saying: “I’ve known Corrado for many years. He is a real professional in our exhibition industry. He’s done fantastic work moving Fiera Milano from its old location at Milano Centre to the Rho Pero area. And now he is leading the leading Italian exhibition company, and also a world class venue, as CEO. During the more than 20 years that I’ve been involved in business with Fiera Milano, I’ve made many friends there, and Corrado is one of them. For many years Corrado has been an active member of various UFI bodies. With his colleagues from FIERA Milano Foundation he has carried out very interesting and significant research, which has been used in UFI strategy development. I fully support Corrado Peraboni’s appointment as incoming UFI Vice-President and am very pleased to welcome such a talented and creative person.”
“I am honoured by this appointment,” said Corrado Peraboni. “UFI is a true global brand of quality in the trade fair sector and I will do everything I can to strengthen it even further. The exhibition sector is seeing continual, rapid change. The current transition stage deserves great attention because our future depends on it, and I think this future holds at least one constant: physical fairs will continue to be an irreplaceable channel for promotion and internationalisation, especially for SMEs, because they guarantee maximum advantages in terms of cost-benefit. Together with my colleagues and the UFI team, we will do our best to launch this message to the business community and public institutions”.
Corrado Peraboni has been Chief Executive Officer of Fiera Milano Spa since April 2015. With a degree in Law from the University of Milan in 1989, he boasts extensive experience in the trade fair sector. He is currently Secretary of the Executive Committee and Vice-President of UFI, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, that represents more than 690 members from the trade fair sector in 85 countries worldwide. From 2001 to 2014 he served as Deputy Chairman of the European Chapter of UFI, and as Chairman from 2004 – 2008. From 2000 to 2015, he was the Managing Director of Fondazione Fiera Milano.
He was on the General Board and Executive Committee of Ente Autonomo Fiera Internazionale di Milano (1996-1999). In the Fiera Milano group he covered the role of President and CEO of Edizioni Fiera Milano Spa, owned by Fiera Milano and Elemond (1997-2000). He was Chairman of the Board of Directors of Rassegne Spa, a company operating in the trade fair organisation sector (1998-2000). He was on the Board of Directors of Villa Erba Spa (2001-2014). He held the office of Sole Managing Director of Quartiere Fiera Srl (2003-2012). He served on the Board of Directors of Fiera Milano International Spa, owned by Fieramilano and Reed Exhibitions (2003-2007). He was CEO of Expo CTS (2007-2009).
Peraboni’s other professional roles include, from 1997-1998, Secretary General of the IPAB – Asilo Mariuccia, a social welfare institute for minors in difficulty. From 2001 to 2002, he was Deputy Chairman of the Italian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce. From 2012 to 2015, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Arexpo Spa, the company set up by Regione Lombardia (the Lombardy Regional Authority), Comune di Milano (the Milan Municipality), Fondazione Fiera Milano, Comune di Rho (the Rho Municipality) and Provincia di Milano (the Milan Provincial Government) for the acquisition of the areas and the redevelopment and regeneration of the Expo 2015 site.
Other institutional roles covered by Peraboni include his election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1992, reconfirmed in 1994, he served on the Commission for Production Activities and on the Commission for Regional Affairs and on the Joint Committee of the Upper and Lower House to oversee the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti.
This article was originally published on the UFI Live Blog: www.ufilive.org
