The United States will be well-represented at this year's CarraraMarmotec stone event in late spring.



The biennial trade show, set for May 19-22, will host three delegations of stone fabricators, restorers, distributors and architects with strong U.S. ties.



At the invitation of CarraraFiere, the event's organizer, the Marble Institute of America (MIA) will hold its mid-year meeting at Carrara Marmotec. CarraraFiere is covering the cost of the meeting, which will include attendance at the event and other industry actitivities.



The meeting is part of the effort by CarraraFiere and event promoter Internazionale Marmi e Macchine (IMM) to support natural stone in the United States.



CarraraFiere also expects 20 member companies of the Columbia, Md.-based Restoration Industry Association to visit the event and the Carrara area during its "Marble Week" tour. And, another delegation of 30 stone-industry companies and allied professionals already holds a full agenda of meetings for the show.



The U.S. groups will be among 11 delegations at the event, with members from Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, China, Czech Republic, Cuba, Egypt, France, Germany, Kuwait, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Mexico, the Palestinian Territories, Peru, Poland, Russia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and United Kingdom.



"A very delicate and time-consuming job of organization that we have been carrying out in Italy and abroad together with the ICE (Italian Trade Commission), the chambers of commerce and trade associations in the stone-technology industry," said CarraraFiere Chairman Giorgio Bianchini, "and the results are concrete and visible. We will be hosting important groups at the fair both in terms of numbers and make-up.



"The 30th year of the trade fair comes at a very difficult time for the industry but CarraraMarmotec and the entire Apuo-Versilian area still appear to be essential for both Italian and foreign industry players."