World Grain - December 2009 - 57

FEATURE

Afreshstart

nternational Association of Operative Millers (IAOM)
Latin American District leaders who believed that moving
their annual meeting closer to home would boost attendance
were rewarded for their idea as more than 100 delegates -
the largest turnout in recent memory - attended the meeting
which was held Nov. 8 at the Sheraton Libertador Hotel in
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The meeting had always been held in North America in conjunction with the annual International IAOM Conference &
Expo, but attendance dropped significantly in recent years as
many Latin American mill owners began to question the costeffectiveness of the long trip. So this year the event was organized to take place in conjunction with the Latin American
Industrial Millers (ALIM) Conference, which was held Nov.
9-11 at the Sheraton Libertador.
IAOM President Ivo Klaric, who attended the meeting, said
this year's event had three "firsts."
"I'm the first Latin American president in the 113 years of
IAOM, this is the first time IAOM and ALIM have held this
event together, and it is the first time both organizations held
their annual meetings in Argentina," Klaric, a native of Bolivia who works for Cargill-Horizon Milling in Canada, told
World Grain.
The organizers were pleased with the results of the change
of venue. "I'm proud that we had such high attendance, and I
have no doubt that this was due in large part to our coopera(Above) Officers installed at the IAOM Latin American District meeting
are, from left: Gerry Richardson, vice-chairperson; David Tullo, chairperson;
Erwin G. Mier Halkyer, first executive committeeman; and Tirso Tovar Calderon, secretary/treasurer. Marco Fava, district director, is not pictured. Photos
courtesy of IAOM.
60

by Cristina Kroll

IAOM Latin American District
moves meeting to South America
and records biggest turnout in
many years
tion with ALIM - a relationship that we hope will continue
to grow in the future," added Melinda Farris, executive vicepresident of IAOM.
Argentina President Cristina Fernández attended the event
and noted that in 2009 "the Argentine milling industry had its
best performance in the last five years."
She also emphasized the diversification of the country's domestic milling industry. "There are three or four leaders, but
there are about 140 small and medium-size companies that
represent 67% of the milling industry's activity."
Also at the inauguration, Alberto España, president of the
Argentine Milling Industry Federation (FAIM), expressed optimism about the industry's future. "This has been a very good
year, and we can foresee a positive overview for 2010."
He also mentioned the agreement the Argentine government
and the local cereal exporters signed the previous week which
will allow producers to cash its grain to full price within the
local market conditions.
The overall attendance for both events (ALIM and IAOM)
was more than 600, with 103 from IAOM and about 500 from
ALIM. "We are very happy with these results, and therefore
December 2009 / World Grain / www.World-Grain.com

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World Grain - December 2009

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