With the participation of more than 20 countries, the Assembly provided its attendants the opportunity of sharing new ideas, advances, and the best experiences implemented by the industry aiming for the reduction of emissions in the 5 continents.

At the panel “Cement Industry in a Low Carbon Economy” held on the third day of the Assembly, Jose Otavio Carvalho executive secretary of the SNIC - FICEM-APCAC member- accompanied by Brian McCarthy, CEO from the Portland Cement Association, Eamon Geraghty, technical director of CRH Europe Materials and Yoghito Izumi from the Japan Cement Association, revealed the current panorama of the cement market focused towards a committed and responsible management of the environmental impact aiming for a continuously more sustainable worldwide industry.

Also, during the Assembly celebration, Paul Vanfrachem from Belgium, after a two year period, passed the Cembureau’s presidency to Jean Paul Méric from France. Méric has performed as general director of Ciments Francaise since 1991 and has been responsible for this group’s activities in various European and North-American countries.

Additionally, Benoît-Henri Koch, member of the executive committee of Holcim, was named vice-president of the association and Lithuania, represented by the Akmenes Cementas producer, was named as plain member of the bureau.

Cembureau’s General Assembly in 2009 will be held on 9th June in Berlin, and in 2010 will be in London on 15th June.

AGREEMENTS

There will be several work proposals developed in pro of the Federación Intermericana del Cemento associates, among which there is a possible cooperation agreement with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), about which we will be informing soon.

Additionally, a proposal was structured for the development of the FICEM-APCAC Statistical Year-Book. The experience of associations such as the Cembureau and projects as the CSI in the development of statistical publications allows applying successful information collecting methodologies, which could be applied to the Inter-American case.

The different FICEM-APCAC work committees will be collecting the information so it will be possible to have a clearer analysis of the cement industry situation in the region, we thank all of our associates for the collaboration given to this task as it will be from the submitted information that the Inter-American profile will be constructed.

Finally, with the purpose of strengthening the bonds with our associates, Oficemen of Spain, represented by Aniceto Zaragoza, its general director, has invited FICEM-APCAC to work jointly in the formulation of the Inter-American Cement Platform.

Based upon the already existing Spanish and European Platforms, the proposal will be analyzed and taken to the Board of Directors in July, looking for its approval.