Graphic arts industry association launches impulse program

At the delegates' meeting on May 8 in Basel, the delegates of Viscom, the employers' association of the graphic arts industry, noted that the association's services had been expanded in the past financial year with the industry solution for climate-neutral printing, the benchmark for company figures and the industry label. At the same time, the graphic arts industry is feeling the negative effects of the international financial and economic crisis. According to the Viscom Index, real gross value added fell by 9.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in the previous year. The ongoing structural adjustment process and the gloomy economic situation have prompted the industry association to set up a stimulus program, according to association director Thomas Gsponer.
According to a Viscom press release, a clear negative impulse in the first quarter of 2009 came from the demand for graphic products induced by the advertising industry. However, demand from other important domestic demand sectors, such as retail, has also already declined in the wake of the recessionary overall economic environment. The negative effects of declining demand were exacerbated in the first quarter of 2009 by the equally clear decline in exports of graphic arts products.