Luigi Iperti is Chairman of the 22nd IPMA World Congress “Project Management to Run” to be held in Rome, on 9-11 November 2008. He is alsocurrently Vice President and Member of the Board of Techint Compagnia Tecnica Internazionale, an engineering and construction company based in Milan, Italy. Techint is part of a Group that comprises more than 100 companies operating worldwide with a workforce of 60.000 experienced professionals and skilled workers. The global annual turnover is nearly USD 25 billion. Luigi has broad experience in the management of large industrial projects and in the General Management of project-oriented companies. He graduated as an electrical engineer from Genoa University. During his career he has acted as project manager and project director for large industrial projects such as a turnkey project for a rolling mill in Argentina in the years 1967-1969, a steel plant in Mexico in 1970-1974, a steel plant in Venezuela in 1975-1977 and in Libya in 1980-1985. He was General Manager of Techint from 1980 and CEO from 1994 to 2005. Luigi is a founding member of ANIMP – Italian National Association of Industrial Plant Engineering – that was founded in 1974. Its main objectives include the development of project management, and project management training courses. Luigi was President of ANIMP from 1986 to 1990 and Chairman of the IPMA (at the time called INTERNET) World Congress in Florence in 1992. From 1996 to 1990 he was President of AIM (Italian Association of Metallurgy). Now he is an ANIMP and AIM Board Member. He is editor of Impiantistica Italiana, the magazine of ANIMP. He holds posts in other companies and foundations, including Vice President and Member of the Board of Techint Finanziaria S.r.l.; Vice President and Member of the Board of TENOVA S.p.A., an engineering company specializing in the design and construction of equipment and plants for the steel industry with a turnover of 2.0 billion USD; President of Fondazione Luigi de Januario, an Organization recognised by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Scientific Technological Research; President of the Italy-Uzbek Chamber of Commerce (CIUZ); Vice President of the Italy-Russia Chamber of Commerce (CAMCIR); Member of the Board of the Italy-Russia Relationships Development Foundation; and Member of the UNIVA Board (Industrial Union of Varese Province).
PM World Today (PMWT): You are the Chairman of this year's 22nd IPMA Congress which will be held in Rome in six month's time. Organising a Congress for a thousand or so people is a big job. Why did you (ANIMP & IPMA) in Italy decide to do it?
Luigi Iperti: Italian main contractors have a very long and significant history in project management applied to large industrial and infrastructural projects throughout the world. Italy now needs a more extensive application of this experience to adapt its own “country system” to the huge challenges of today’s fast moving global market. Rome is the stage where the Excellence of international project management will be presented with the focus on results and concrete achievements. The event will therefore give a powerful support to the spreading of a project management culture for the strategic needs of our Nation and will also consolidate the image of our contractors held by our present and future clients worldwide.
PMWT: Can you tell us something about the organisation of the Congress? When did you really start, how many people have been involved?
Iperti: The organization of the Congress started two years ago and here I have to express my thanks to the Italian Government, to the engineering companies and to all the technical /financial institutions and associations that have not only fully endorsed the goals set for the Congress but have also supported its organization in a concrete manner. A group of 30-40 professionals - IPMA Boards members, Advisory Board members, stream Chairmen, senior PMs and the staff of two Congress services companies – have been directly involved in the setting up of the various aspects of this event. It’s a difficult job: just to give an example, nearly 400 abstracts have been submitted from 40 countries. Our Congress will be a truly international Congress with people coming from USA, Europe, India, China, Australia and from many other Countries
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