amec-amtex brings together the Spanish textile machinery industry has achieved that Barcelona， the city in which the association is housed， has imposed itself on its major competitors （Milan， Paris） as ITMAs international headquarters in 2019.

According to amec amtex and Fira Barcelona， it is estimated that ITMA will generate an economic impact in the city of Barcelona， which is expected to be close to 400 million euros， a figure comparable to that of the Mobile World Congress.

Some 127，000 people visit the fair. In this case it is a visitor profile that comes to the city accompanied by family and stays more days to enjoy it. In addition， and because the complex preparation of the machinery that is exposed requires extensive previous and subsequent work， two weeks before its start， assemblers and teams of technicians and engineers from all over the world travel to the city.

amec amtex in this edition has coordinated the Spanish participation of the 87 participating companies of which 33 are of machinery. In addition to technical and logistical support in this edition， an ambitious commercial promotion plan has been launched on and off line， aimed at the main markets of interest to amec amtex members.

China， still due to the peculiarities of its market（highly competitive and huge） is in the 14th position. The Spanish company every two year expose their machinery in ITMA ASIA + CITME chosen as best platform for increasing their presence in the market.

Regarding our export figures， just remember that in 2018， Spanish exports of textile and clothing machinery increased by 5.19% compared to 2017， reaching 304.64 million euros. Exports went mainly to the EU （27% of the total）， with Portugal， France and Italy as first destinations. The United States， Mexico and Pakistan are the main non-EU markets.

In Spain， there are 70 companies that employ about 3，400 workers. Of these， ten are world leaders.

Catalonia hosts about 70% and the Valencian community another 25%， while the rest is located in the Community of Madrid.

These are companies that export more than half of their production. The main destinations are the USA （12%）， Portugal （6.7%）， Mexico （5.9%）， France and Italy （5.2% in both cases） and India （4.4%）.

INTERANUAL COMPARISON BY SUBSECTORS The main sectors in terms of weight on the total exports of the sector in 2018 were the finishing machinery （37.30%） and clothing machinery（21.13%）.

In this edition， the Spanish sector will show significant innovations in sustainability， save energy and water， Industry 4.0， big data， printing … Recognized companies such Electro-jet， Jeanologia， Machinery Masias， Tacome-Kerajet， Gomplast， Rius-Comatex Icomatex， EAS， Pinter Caipo， Col.loras， Inedit among others and Canmartex with the great surprise of the return of the well-known brand Jumberga.

The total of the exhibition area of Spanish companies is 6，000m2. This year， Spain is the third country after Italy and Germany thus surpassing Switzerland. 32% more compared to the 2015 edition.

The emergence of new market niches and the increase in the possibilities of product specialization （technical， bio-sanitary， physiological and intelligent fabrics） opens up new opportunities. For this， it is necessary to have hhrr with very good technical and commercial training. Among the most innovative are examples such as Jenealogía（Paterna， Valencia）， which has created a new system to treat Texan clothing minimizing the environmental impact that traditional processes have entailed， and which has reached an agreement with the American company Levis to install a plant in Texas.

Masias Maquinaria， company with more than 75 years of experience in technologies for the treatment of fibers， dedicated to the manufacture of equipment and machinery for the textile sector. Design the best solution in the treatment and filling of all types of fibers to optimize the production systems of its customers. After working for Ikea supplying mattresses and cushions produced with their machines， he has just replicated the same model in the U.S.

Electro-Jet： creator of the cleaning system of barbed wire in spinning and weaving， the main textile producers in the world have it as a supplier. Kerajet： born as a leader in digital ceramic printing， has applied its technology to textiles， becoming one of the world lead- ers or significant the case of Girbau， manufacturer of industrial washing machines that has just acquired a company in China to continue its process of expansion in Asia.

Note that since last January 2018， the direction of the association has been in the hands of Angela Lalatta who together with Mr. Jordi Galtés president of amec amtex and Oscar Rius of Rius-Comatex and Egsmeragdu Masias de Masias machinery （respectively vicepresident 1st and 2nd ） they mark the strategies of the sector， focusing on the internationalization and innovation.