Salone del Mobile Secures Half a Million Masks for Italy

April 1, 2020  by Jane Chero in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry   

Thanks to the mobilization of the Chinese design world and furnishing industry, and the crucial input of VNU Exhibitions Asia (organizers of the Salone del Mobile.Milano Shanghai along with FLA China), FederlegnoArredo and the Salone del Mobile.Milano have managed to collect 545,000 masks (surgical masks and types FFP2, FFP3, KN95 and N95) at the Italian Embassy in Beijing, which will be delivered to the Italian Red Cross who will then distribute them amongst the health facilities most in need of immediate help.

The hope is that this gesture will underscore the fact that only by helping each other and pulling together can the challenges and dangers facing us today be overcome. The organizers emphasize that every contribution takes on a huge importance and an enormous human value in the complex battle against the COVID-19 virus decimating the whole world, and Italy in particular at this time, a country that has always enjoyed friendly relations with China and which provided support, assistance and help to the Chinese government as soon as the epidemic broke out in the province of Hubei.

The Italian furniture and design industry has achieved positive results in China over the last 20 years thanks to the strong ties and friendship between Italian and Chinese professionals. According to a press release issued this week, this initiative coordinated by VNU Exhibitions, “is not just an invaluable gesture of friendship and a means of helping Italy at this delicate time, it is also an expression of the desire and hope that everyone will be able to start working together again as soon as possible, to further and bolster this profitable collaboration and achieve even better results for both countries.”