Amilcare Merlo was appointed Officer of the French Republic Légion d’Honneur

Amilcare Merlo was appointed Officer of the French Republic Légion d'Honneur

Mr. Gérard Larcher, the President of the French Senate, pins the Officer’s Cross of Merit on Mr. Merlo

On Friday, 3rd July, with a simple yet intense ceremony held in Paris, next to the Rambouillet presidential residence, Amilcare Merlo, the founder and president of the Merlo Group, was appointed Officer of the French Republic Légion d’Honneur for his Achievements in the Agricultural Sector.

This prestigious honour, which dates back to 1883, was awarded to personalities of world renown, such as scientist Louis Pasteur and writer Roger Peyrefitte.

Mr. Gérard Larcher, the President of the French Senate, pinned the Officer’s Cross of Merit on Mr. Merlo in the presence of Luca Maestripieri, the Italian Consul General in France, Ferruccio Dardanello, the President of Unioncamere (the Italian association of the Chambers of Commerce), and Alessandro Reitelli, the President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in France.

Merlo’s commercial presence in France started in 1983, when our branch Merlo France was established. Today it has a wide sales and after-sales network all over France, where it plays a particularly active role in the agricultural sector.

In his investiture address, Gérard Larcher highlighted “the important role played by the Merlo Group in innovating the agricultural sector, where it has allocated a wealth of resources for the development of new technologies, and it has always offered cutting-edge solutions and machines, in compliance with the highest safety, comfort and productivity standards. Merlo technology has undoubtedly given a great contribution to the improvement of labour safety and quality in agriculture”.

While thanking the President of the French Senate for being awarded this honour, Amilcare Merlo said: "This is a source of great satisfaction to me, and I want to share this moment of great emotion with the new generation that is now taking up my legacy in our company, with my children, and with all the people who have been contributing to the growth of our Group over the years.

I’m now turning my mind to young people. In this difficult moment for the world economy, I wish them to rediscover the enthusiasm and the passion that have driven research and development so far, because without them there can be no peaceful future. I wish self-sacrifice and devotion to work could be revived, since it’s these values that made it possible to export the competitiveness and the technological innovations of our country all over the world in the past years".