Organizations that shape the world natural stone industry came together as part of the 26th Marble Izmir Fair. The sustainability of natural stone was discussed at the World Stone Summit.
The World Stone Forum, which was held for the first time in 2018 as part of the Marble İzmir Fair, and which made an intercontinental call in 2019 to promote the use of natural stone with the wide
They came together for the sustainable natural stone industry
“How can we sustain the Natural Stone Industry after the pandemic?” In the workshop organized around the basic question, 2 groups of 8 people worked simultaneously at different tables. In the workshop, Herwig CALLEWIER (Belgium) and Daniel WOOD (USA) from World Natural Stone Institute (NSI), Mehmet SERTER from Turkish Marble Natural Stone and Machinery Manufacturers Association (TUMMER), Agata KLEPACKA (Poland) from Ptak Expo, Western Mediterranean Exporters Ahmet TEKİN from the World Natural Stone Association, Anil TANEJA (Spain) from the World Natural Stone Association, Jawad Yousuf AHAWAJ (Bahrain) from the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Mohammed HALAJIAN from the Iran Stone Expo.
Within the scope of the workshop, “Post-Pandemic Situation in the Natural Stone Industry”, “Methods and Suggestions Regarding Informing Consumers”, “Evaluation of the Fair Calendar of the World Natural Stone Industry” and “Measures and Suggestions for Substitutions Threatening the Natural Stone Industry” were discussed. Expressing their opinions within the framework of these issues, the participants firstly defined the main problems of the sector by considering the expectations and needs of the target audiences and offered different solutions to the problems. Developed joint strategies for the natural stone industry.
Turkey will be a natural stone base
The summit, which was held under the name of “The Present and the Future of the International Natural Stone Industry”, was attended by the United States, Belgium, Iran, Spain, Italy, Kosovo, Poland, Russia, Tunisia, Turkey and Greece. The summit, moderated by WONASA President Ali Şayakçı, was attended by TÜMMER President İbrahim Alimoğlu, İMİB President Aydın Dinçer, Iran Stone Expo CEO Mohammed Halajian, NSI Board Member Daniel Wood, Architect Dr. Bekim Çeko (Kosovo) participated. Julie Chaida from the Greek Natural Stone Association and Anil Taneja from the World Natural Stone Association participated online. Representatives from the stone unions of the countries; He exchanged ideas with the fair participants on the ways to be followed against artificial stones threatening the natural stone sector, methods for end users, the situation of the sector after the pandemic and the evaluation of the calendars of natural stone fairs in the world. 26. Responding to the intercontinental call in Marble İzmir, WSS participants agreed that Turkey should be a natural stone base for the whole world.
“We should use natural stone as building material”
NSI Board Member Daniel Wood, who attended both the workshop and the summit, said, “It has been an incredible organization. I believe it will be of great benefit to the industry. Natural stone is an original building material that has been used for thousands of years. Low carbon emission, environmentally friendly and durable. In all our training programs, we explain to architects and designers why they should use natural stone. We emphasize that it should be considered as a building material in the architectural structures of the future, with its durability and being an environmentally friendly material. 26. Marble İzmir has been a platform for us to contribute to our work together with the industry. It was an incredible experience for us to be together with beautiful people who have given their heart to natural stone in İzmir.”
“Natural stone is a dynamic and living formation”
Stating that they met with their partners at the summit held within the scope of the fair, Russian Stone Industry President Dymitry MEDIANTSEV said, “Marble İzmir Fair is an international trade show where the world’s natural stone representatives come together at the same time. Despite the pandemic, he gave a good message to the world. We evaluated the opportunities and threats for natural stone together with all participating countries. We have produced solutions for our industry. We should be a source of inspiration to architects, designers and project developers in order to spread the use of natural stone around the world. Natural stone is nature itself. It is a dynamic and living entity. There is only one color and pattern from which it was taken out of the quarry. Just like a fingerprint, it is unique and valuable. “To see it as any building material is against its nature,” he said.
“The purest material used in the world”
WONASA President Ali Şayakçı, who is the moderator of the summit, said, “Especially the summit attracted very good participants. The most important organizations of the world came together. Natural stone has a very interesting feature. It is one of the rarest raw materials used in the purest form in the world… It is used even by treating the surface of wood. However, natural stone is not like that. Like water, one of the materials used completely pure is natural stone. For him, sustainability and environmentalism are gaining more and more importance every day. We foresee that the star of natural stone will shine much more in the upcoming processes. Because natural stone is one of the most environmentally friendly materials.
It took place online on July 12-13, 2021
Marble İzmir laid the foundation of an organization that embraces all sector representatives in the world. In the webinar, which presents an intercontinental invitation to everyone who touches the stone, the topics of “Fair Calendar of the Natural Stone Industry”, “Threats and Technology in the Natural Stone Industry” were discussed. Sessions; 6th International Stone Congress Executive Committee Chairman Prof. Dr. It was moderated by Faruk Çalapkulu and WONASA Chairman of the Board Ali Sayakci