The interest of farmers from Greece, the Balkans, and Southeastern Europe will turn to the largest trade fair of the sector, Agrotica, which will be organised for the 28th time from 30 January to 2 February 2020 at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre.

At the most important Agrotica to be held to date, participants include all the major industries and businesses of the sector, representing innovation, new technologies, and all the latest developments in machinery, supplies, and equipment.

Agroitica also attracts businesses that are attending the trade fair for the first time (with nutrients and plant protection products), as well as exhibitors with minor participation from 2014 onwards, while it coincides with the first approvals of the Improvement Plans of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, which will lead to the modernisation of domestic farming.

The trade fair will attract large numbers of trade visitors from the Balkans, Southeastern Europe, and the Eastern Mediterranean, while it is accompanied by a timely and rich programme of side events and congresses, with the most interesting subjects in agricultural production.

This year’s Agrotica also boasts a thematic exhibition on farming-professional vehicles, offering test drives of the latest models from the automotive industry.

Side events that stand out include the 8th Agrotica Pan-Hellenic Conference (on 1 and 2 February at the ‘N. Germanos’ Conference Centre), focusing this year on ‘Climate Change and Agriculture’, the ‘New Farming-New Cooperatives’ event (co-organised by TIF-Helexpo, the Ministry of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, and the New Agriculture for the New Generation programme), and the presentation of the Four Eyes for

Farm robotic system (co-organised by TIF-Helexpo and the Institute of Bio-Economy and Agro-Technology of CERTH).

20/12/2019 – 13:25

The Philoxenia and Hotelia exhibitions functioned as a platform of optimism for Greek tourism, gathering tourism sector professionals at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre for three days. In fact, the exhibition duo attracted 20,143 visitors, proof of the trust placed in them by sector professionals, who continuously and consistently choose these exhibitions to promote themselves and to open channels of cooperation. The number of trade visitors to the two exhibitions was increased by 19%. Furthermore, 4500 meetings were held between hosted buyers and exhibitors — again, a record number — during a rich programme that satisfied both sides.

The messages on Philoxenia and Hotelia were especially positive, anticipating an even brighter future, as exhibitors and visitors alike recognised the upgraded image of both exhibitions.

There was a broad programme of side events at Philoxenia, while most side events concerned the Honoured Regions (Poland, the Region of Thessaly, and the Municipality of Tripoli). In fact, the events for Poland as Honoured Country attracted many visitors, while the events organised by the Region of Thessaly and the Municipality of Tripoli were especially interesting. Nepal’s first ever participation at Philoxenia was also successful. In fact, Nepalese tourism officials attending the exhibition were very satisfied with the results.

Furthermore, 35 tourism startups were presented at Philoxenia via two entities: Digital Greece, a project of the Ministry of Digital Governance, and CapsuleT Travel & Hospitality Accelerator, the first Greek startup accelerator exclusively for tourism, which is an initiative of the Hellenic Chamber of Hotels. Attendance at this event indicated that tourism innovation attracts a lot of interest.

In addition, this year’s Philoxenia International Congress on ‘Dark Tourism-Shedding light on a dark past’ — held in a packed room at ‘N. Germanos’ Conference Centre — highlighted the tourism prospects of Thessaloniki and Central Macedonia in this field, as well as in all international examples indicating ‘Dark Tourism’ trends. In fact, Greek and international speakers who participated, proceeded with in depth analyses regarding this phenomenon, which has been gaining traction in the tourism industry in recent years.

Large numbers of people attended the dozens of Hotelia events. ‘A unique VR accommodation experience’ was the greatly successful interactive event, that resulted in long lines, providing visitors with the opportunity to have an unprecedented virtual hotel accommodation experience. The other thematic sections of Hotelia were also successful: All About Café attracted large numbers of visitors to its seminars and events, The Cup Tasting Spot and the Latte Art ThrowDown also made an impression, while world champion baristas enlightened those attending. The All About Gastronomy thematic section was equally successful, with the Nutritious reservation, Nutritious Reservations bar, and Nutritious Reservations’ Speeches attracting the interest of visitors.

The Philoxenia-Hotelia exhibition duo hosted 542 exhibitors, participations from 21 countries, the entire domestic tourism industry, Greece’s 13 regions and many of its municipalities. More specifically, there were 382 Philoxenia and 160 Hotelia exhibitors. They came from all over Greece, Poland, Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan, the Philippines, Cyprus, Uzbekistan, G. Britain, Nepal, Peru, Bosnia, Turkey, Slovakia, Serbia, Armenia, Kenya, Russia, Albania, Czech Republic, and France.

There was a total of 142 hosted buyers at both exhibitions. 100 top tour operators from 37 countries attended Philoxenia (1/3 of the Hosted Buyers were MICE and 2/3 were Tour Operators and Travel Agents), while 42 hosted buyers from 19 countries attended Hotelia. There were 160 people in the international groups visiting Philoxenia from Turkey, North Macedonia, and Bulgaria, and 120 visiting Hotelia from Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

Exhibitors included, among others, the Ministry of Tourism, the Greek National Tourism Organisation (EOT) (which had both exhibitions under its auspices), the Ministry of Digital Governance with tourism startups, construction, technology, furniture, equipment, and renovation businesses, addressing the tourism sector from all Regions of Greece, as well as the most important institutional entities, SETE, POX, XEE, HATTA, etc.

The Hosted Buyer programme sponsors were Zorpidis Travel, Grand Hotel Palace, and Prima Holidays, while it was supported by the Tourist Organisation of Thessaloniki and Thessaloniki Convention Bureau.

Frapport was the Hospitality Sponsor of the Dark Tourism Congress, Aegean was the Air Travel Sponsor, Taxi Way was the Transportation Sponsor, the Lunch Break Networking Event was held in the framework of the Thema programme, and the Coffee Break was Sponsored by Kafe Passion.

Lastly, all About Café was sponsored by the Specialistas product line by MEVGAL, and EUROGAT was the Equipment Sponsor.

20/11/2019 – 12:05

Germany is organising one of its largest international exhibition participations as the Honoured Country.

The engines are running for the 85th TIF, which will be held from 5 – 13 September 2020, and its implementation on all levels is already under way.

The organisational preparation of Germany, which is the Honoured Country of the 85th TIF, is moving along rapidly. It is indicative that the the Exhibition Organisation of Cologne (Koelnmesse), which is managing the implementation of the German participation, will continue to accept applications for participation in the 85th TIF from German businesses until 31 January 2020.

With an emphasis on technology, energy, and the environment, Germany’s participation will present good practices and the way of life in one of the largest economies in the world.

The German participation will cover all 6000 square metres of Pavilion 13, which houses the Honoured Country.

Essentially, it will be the first time (besides participations of the country in World Expositions – EXPOS) that Germany will cover so many square metres with its exhibition, internationally, as an official state participation.

At the German pavilion special attention will also be paid to B2B meetings, in order to achieve the goal of business collaborations.

It should be noted that in the framework of the implementation of the 85th TIF the exhibition’s logo has been prepared.

24/09/2019 – 11:18

The citizens of Thessaloniki and other cities embraced this year’s event and celebrated once again this year the city’s historical institution.

TIF retained visitor levels at 250,000 people for the third year running, establishing its dynamism and winning over the hearts of the people even more. More specifically, 263,737 visitors attended the 84th TIF, enthusiastically participating in Thessaloniki’s grand celebration, which is becoming increasingly popular with all ages with every passing year. Families with children, young people, and older visitors flooded the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre on a daily basis, with a great variety of choice before them. The 84th TIF, with India as its Honoured Country, attracted more than 1600 exhibitors, in contrast to 1494 last year, and had 18 international participations. The next Honoured Country will be Germany, preparations for the participation of which are already under way, and it is expected to impress visitors of the 85th TIF.

The Indian pavilion, where this year’s Honoured Country, India, was presented, was a pole of attraction for thousands of visitors, providing a taste of this new economic superpower, which marries tradition with new technologies. The Fair got its Indian vibrancy from the daily dance events, which took visitors on a journey to the distant Asian land.

Peoples’ interest at this year’s TIF was attracted by the Digital Greece theme, an initiative of the Ministry of Digital Governance and TIF-Helexpo, in collaboration with Industry Disruptors-Game Changers. The Fair hosted a record-number 300 startups at Digital Greece, presenting a different Greece to the public.

Visitors of the 84th TIF also experience the “magic” of 5G technology with excitement. 5G is a new chapter in the history of the internet, drastically changing the way in which we communicate, work, and entertain ourselves. The 84th TIF was the first exhibition to present a pilot 5G network, with the help of WIND and Huawei.

The full extent of Greek entrepreneurship was successfully presented at pavilions 2 and 3 by the 43 Chambers that participated at the 84th TIF under the “umbrella” of the Union of Hellenic Chambers, while the separate participations of PCTh, TCCI, the Serres Chamber, and ACCI attracted visitor attention.

The pavilion of the Ministry of Defence was also very popular, which used VR simulators to transport people to the virtual operational daily life of the Armed Forces.

Circo Medrano circus made its unique mark on the 84th TIF, enchanting both young and old with its artists’ skills.

Art was also present at the 84th TIF, where CheapArt brought the public closer to important artists for the sixth year, and presented them with the opportunity of obtaining a piece of art of their own.

‘The Mindspark’ made a significant impression at this year’s Fair, where international speakers vividly presented new knowledge on our new times.

There were major visitor flows to all TIF thematic exhibitions, from automotion and energy, to education and gastronomy. Energia, Automotion – Electricity – Mobility, Akademia and Gastronomy (Gastronomy Corner, Greece on a dish) presented the most recent developments and trends in these various sectors. The Automotion – Electricity – Mobility thematic exhibition presented electric cars, motorcycles, and professional vehicles (with the participation of 5 electric vehicle companies).

Visitor recreation was taken care of once again this year by the Music Events, where famous Greek artists provided the soundtrack of the event. In fact, at the closing of the Fair, Paola and Yiorgos Papadopoulos carried the people away down pop and

folk paths, bidding farewell to the Fair in the best way possible, while one day earlier Makis Dimakis, Irene Papadopoulou, and Vassilis Dimas raised the temperature of the event to a fever pitch.

The public was informed this year for the first time at the TIF about the medical, pharmaceutical, and industrial uses of cannabis, at Salonica Cannabis Expo.

The response was great, for the second year running, to the SMOKE-FREE initiative, which sent out a message of respect for those around us.

Papastratos’ industries supported the Smoke Free TIF initiative, the Official Drink of the 84th TIF was Coca-Cola, the Official Airline was Qatar Airways, the Official Telecommunications Provider was WIND, the Official Bank was the National Bank of Greece, the Official Energy Provider was DEI (PPC), the Beer of the 84th TIF was ‘NYMFI THESSALONIKIS’, and the Medical Supporter of the 84th TIF was the Thessaloniki Interbalkan Medical Centre. The official hotels of the Music Events were Capsis and Capsis Bristol. The Catering Sponsor of the Music Events was the Samiotakis company, while the Pachoumis group and its subsidiary Limousines Greece were the VIP Transfers Sponsors.

The TIF was organised under the auspices of the Ministry of the Interior (Macedonia – Thrace).

The TIF has set the date for its next meeting with the public for 2020, when Germany will make its own mark at the 85th event.

18/09/2019 – 12:36

The Thessaloniki International Book Fair (TIBF) is starting on Thursday 9 May, with 500 speakers, 290 publishers, 300 Greek and international authors, at least 900 speakers, and honouring Spanish speaking countries. It is being organised in pavilions 13, 14, and 15 of the International Exhibition Centre by the Hellenic Foundation of Culture, in cooperation with TIF-Helexpo, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Greek Publisher Associations and independent publishers.

The event will last until Sunday 12 May and focus on ‘Crowds as protagonists in Literature and History’, highlighting its concerns regarding a series of timely social and political matters, such as the refugee crisis and social movements. Furthermore, the 16th TIBF will also focus on the following thematic axes: ‘Literature and Memory’, ‘Humanity’*: Gender and Literary Performance, ‘Imagine all the people: Homage to the refugee experience’, Children’s and Teenager’s Corner, Translation Festival, Young Writer Festival, Professional Day, Exhibitions-Homage to photographer Yiannis Bechrakis.

Spanish speaking countries are being honoured at this year’s event, which will highlight their enormous literary wealth and common reference points in relation to Greece. The Hellenic Foundation of Culture in cooperation with the Ibero-American

Literature Festival En Athens–LEA, embassies, institutes, and other cultural foundations in Greece and internationally, will honour the literature coming both from Spain itself (including the Basque Country), as well as from Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America, such as El Salvador, Colombia, etc. Another country of the Iberian peninsula, Portugal, will also be represented. Thus, in the framework of this homage, Thessaloniki will welcome Santiago Gamboa and Héctor Abad Faciolince from Colombia, Jorge Galán from El Salvador, Spanish writer and ambassador of Hellenism Pedro Olallia, Spanish poet Juan Vicente Piqueras, Basque Country writer Gambrine Umbeda, Spanish detective novel and police officer Alejandro Gallo, as well as Portuguese writers Dulce Maria Cardoso and Jose Luis Peixoto.

Apart from the Spanish-speaking authors, there will be a number of writers participating in the 16th TIBF from at least 20 countries, such as France, Germany, the UK, Ireland, Italy, USA, Russia, Israel, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Iraq, Turkey and Sweden.

The Opening Ceremony of the Russian-Greek Literature Year will be held at the 16th TIBF on Thursday, 9 May, where the relevant agreement will also be signed. The event will be addressed by the Minister of Culture and Sports, Ms Myrsini Zorba, Deputy Foreign Minister Mr Markos Bolaris, Ambassador of the Russian Federation in Greece Mr Andrey Maslov, and Deputy Minister of Science and Education of the Russian Federation, Mr Grigory Trubnikov. In this framework Russia’s participation in the event will cover an area of 200 square metres and host more than 30 events. The Year will end at the 33rd International Moscow Book Fair in September 2020.

Among the events in the framework of the 16th TIBF, those organised by the Hellenic Foundation of Culture (HFC) will stand out; specifically the celebration of the 200 years since the Greek national revolution of 1821, the Kavafeia, and the teaching of Greek at HFC branches abroad.

The Press Conference

The potential of the Thessaloniki International Book Fair playing an international role both in Greece and in the broader region was underlined by the President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tasos Tzikas, during the press conference today in view of the opening of the TIBF. He stressed that the Fair has established itself as a major cultural event.

Subsequently, Mayor of Thessaloniki Mr Yiannis Boutaris stressed that it is necessary for the TIBF to be transferred to Thessaloniki, for it to become autonomous and dependent on the city itself. “We must mimic the example of the Thessaloniki Film Festival”, he noted, stressing that the new concept of the Book Fair must be produced the way in which Thessaloniki “embraces” the TIBF every year.

The important presence of publishers and writers, as well as the large number of events were underlined by the member of the HFC board and Associate Professor of Historical Linguistic at AUTh, Mr Giorgos Papanastasiou, who noted that this year bears all the characteristics of previous events, to the superlative degree. He also referred to the homage to emblematic intellectual figure Manolis Triantafillidis that is being held in the framework of the 16th TIBF.

Deputy Mayor of Culture Elli Chrysidou stressed the need to look at the TIBF from a different perspective, through its connection to the city, the region, the agencies, and its creative people, while she characterised May the month of Thessaloniki, if one takes into account the great number of events in the city that follow the axis of the International Book Fair.

The director of the TIBF Mr Manolis Piblis mentioned the goal of members of the academia, writers, publishers, and the public to meet in Thessaloniki and hold discussions, in what he called a rare meeting that does not happen anywhere else in Greece at any other time. He also stressed that another cycle is being completed for the fair and that the next step needs to be taken, while in reference to the Mayor’s request for an autonomous Book Fair, he noted that a TIBF bureau needs to be initially created in

Thessaloniki, while he mentioned that the Book Fair must be seen and must operate all year round.

Lastly, the French Consul to Thessaloniki, Mr Philippe Ray, stressed that it is important for books to be protected and promoted, especially in a forum of celebration such as the Fair.

The TIBF is being held with the support of the Hellenic Parliament and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Sport, while it is being co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund, in the framework of the Regional Operational Programme of Central Macedonia 2014-2020.

10/05/2019 – 12:32

Greece must pay special attention to the production of quality products, of high added value and authenticity, and the promotion of extroversion, according to the Deputy Minister of Rural Development and Food Ms Olympia Teligioridou, from the podium of the 5th Freskon inauguration. In fact, she stressed that Freskon provides a first class opportunity to strengthen international trade relationships in the primary sector. She characterised the event as especially important on a Greek, European, and international level, and she underlined that it is an exhibition institution that provides Greek producers with the opportunity to come into contact with international retail chains. 

Deputy Minister of the Interior (of Macedonia-Thrace) Ms Eleftheria Chatzigeorgiou characterised Freskon as one of the most important fruit and vegetable expos of Southeastern Europe and the broader Mediterranean basin, stressing that this great exhibition effort, transforms Thessaloniki into a strategic hub for fruit and vegetable transportation in the Balkan peninsula and the European hinterland, through the development of cooperation networks. 

The potential for Greek fruit and vegetables to conquer markets beyond Europe was underlined by the Secretary General of Agricultural Policy Mr Charalambos Kassimis, who noted that fruit and vegetables are one of the most dynamic sectors of 
the agricultural industry. The Region of Central Macedonia is participating in this year’s Freskon with 25 fresh fruit and vegetable enterprises, as was announced by the Deputy Governor for Rural Development Ms Gerakina Bisbina. She also stressed that the Region is in first place in Greek agricultural production, with 85% of rice, 70% of vegetables, and 30% of cotton and cereals being produced here.  

Next, the Deputy Governor of Development, Infrastructure, Networks and the Environment of the Peloponnese Ms Dina Nikolakou stressed that her Region is participating in Freskon for the fifth consecutive year, while she announced a strategic cooperation with TIF-Helexpo, for the continuous presence of the Peloponnese at its exhibition events. 

Lastly, President of TIF-Helexpo Mr Tasos Tzikas noted that this year’s Freskon is more international than any before it, and that it had started off with an intense international character from the very first time it was organised. He characterised the fruit and vegetable sector as strategic for the primary sector, especially in recent years. 

215 direct and indirect exhibitors from 16 countries are participating in Freskon, in comparison to 191 of the previous event, and 205 hosted buyers from 35 countries were welcomed, of whom 130 are individual hosted buyers from 33 countries and 75 are hosted buyers through group participations from the Balkans.  In fact, approximately 2500 business meetings between representatives of Greek enterprises & producers and international hosted buyers have been scheduled. This year Freskon is hosting Digital Greece Freskon Edition for the first time, with 13 startup companies present. 

Among the side events the International Peach Congress stands out, with the participation of renowned Greek and international speakers, which started today and which will continue tomorrow, while an important position at the expo is held by the FreshCon Market. Freskon will last until 13 April and its opening hours are the following: Friday 12 April 09:30-19:00, and Saturday 13 April 09:30-17:00. 

12/04/2019 – 16:34

Freskon, the 5th International Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Trade Show opens tomorrow, with 215 direct and indirect exhibitors from 16 countries, in comparison to 191 of the previous event, and 205 hosted buyers from 35 countries, of whom 130 are individual hosted buyers from 33 countries and 75 are hosted buyers through group participations from the Balkans.

The Trade Show covers an exhibition area of 12,500 square metres. In fact, approximately 2500 business meetings between representatives of Greek enterprises & producers and international hosted buyers have been scheduled. Exhibitors are coming from, among other places, Greece, Cyprus, Egypt, Argentina, Bulgaria, Italy, India, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Spain, Denmark, and Germany. Once again, this year Freskon will be a meeting place for producers, international retail groups, as well as domestic and international transporters of fresh fruit and vegetables, while also acting as a reference point for the fresh fruit and vegetable market in Southeastern Europe. The FreshCon Market is being organised in the framework of Freskon, focusing on connecting production to retail sales.

The main goal of FreshCon Market is to bring large supermarket chains into direct contact with professionals of the agricultural sector, creating ideal conditions for direct agreements. In fact, some of the largest supermarket chains in Europe will be present. This year Freskon will host Digital Greece Freskon Edition for the first time, with 13 startup companies present. This year’s event incorporates a number of side events, at which specialised subjects of the primary sector, the connection of agricultural production with trade, standardisation-packaging, extroversion, etc., will be presented and analysed. The International Peach Congress stands out among these, which will be held on 11 and 12 April, with the participation of renowned speakers from Greece and abroad. Both FreshCon Market and the International Peach Congress are being co-organised with ‘Froutonea’ magazine.

Freskon will last until 13 April and its opening hours are the following: Thursday 11 April and Friday 12 April 09:30-19:00, and Saturday 13 April 09:30-17:00. Press Conference “Greece deserves to be present in the vegetable markets of the whole world”, noted TIF-Helexpo CEO Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis at the Freskon press conference today, while he focused on the importance of this year’s event for the sector, and he announced that eight of the hosted buyers are companies with a turnover of more than 300,000,000 Euros.

On his side, the publisher of ‘Froutonea’ magazine Mr Takis Orfanos stressed that the fresh fruit and vegetable sector needs an exhibition like Freskon, which, he noted, has established itself and will be here for years to come. He also expressed his concerns about the sector season, when taking into account weather instability and climate change. Lastly, the head organiser of Freskon Ms Tonia Nikolaidou underlined the contribution of the event to the growth of enterprises through the promotion programme, while she referred to Freskon’s extroversion through the Freskon Greece project.

 

11/04/2019 – 12:51

More than 100 participations, 40 of which were sports federations and sports goods and equipment companies, will kick off the 4th Sportexpo on 10 April at the Thessaloniki International Exhibition Centre. This year’s expo, which is being co-organised by TIF-Helexpo and the General Secretariat of Sports, marks the cooperation of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania for the joint bid to hold major sport events.

Sportexpo’s goals include, among other things, promoting the work and programmes of the sports federations and associations, and side events will be organised in that framework, such as tournaments, shows, seminars, etc., aiming at making more obscure sports known to a broader public, as well as creating a sports consciousness.

“It is very important to create a sports celebration surrounding Sportexpo, and to imbue it with an international character. We are being given this opportunity to bid for major international events through the cooperation of Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania. Through this cooperation we want to build a major international sports expo”, noted President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tasos Tzikas at the Sportexpo press conference today. “Forty sports federations, 18 clubs-bodies, and 20 fitness stations are just some of the numbers from the 4th Sportexpo”, he stated.

On his side, the CEO of the national exhibition agency Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis noted that Sportexpo focuses on daily exercise, sports in the school environment, team sports, volunteerism, and sports for people with disabilities.

His belief that the sports family of Thessaloniki and beyond will support Sportexpo, the largest – as he characterised it – sports expo in Greece, was expressed by Mr Dimitris Akritidis, special adviser to the Deputy Minister of Culture and Sports Mr Giorgos Vasiliadis. He also revealed that there will be a wide range of events and shows at Sportexpo, where new, less well-known sports will be promoted, while there will be everything from a pool and boxing & kick-boxing ring, to a mountain-climbing wall and beach volley court in the exhibition spaces. In fact, as he stressed, from Wednesday 10 to Friday 12 April, approximately 5000 students will visit Sportexpo.

Lastly, the deputy general director of TIF-Helexpo Mr Alexis Tsaxirlis referred to the other exhibitions and events that are also going at the International Exhibition Centre, such as Freskon, the Recycling Festival, and the Thessaloniki Dance Festival. The head of organising Sportexpo Mr Panagiotis Chatziioannou was also present at the press conference. He wished the event the best of success.

It should be noted that this year Sportexpo is coinciding with the ‘Alexander the Great’ International Marathon, which is being held on Sunday 14 April by the MEAS TRITON sports club.

Entry to Sportexpo is free, while there will also be free parking for exhibitors and visitors who can enter through the Trade Gate.

The opening hours of the exhibition are: Wednesday to Friday 09:00 to 20:00 and Saturday 10:00 to 20:00. The Sportexpo opening ceremony will be held on Thursday 11 April at 19:00, at pavilion 17.

05/04/2019 – 12:13

At the presentation of the 84th TIF, which was held for representatives of the diplomatic corps in Athens, the Deputy Minister of the Interior, Sector of Macedonia and Thrace, Mrs Eleftheria Chatzigeorgiou, pointed out that “a New India of technology and development is at the centre of the 84th TIF, in step with a New Greece”.

She stressed that, “since late last year the contacts of TIF-Helexpo’s administration with a number of Indian governmental representatives, chambers of commerce and industry, financial and business groups, as well as cultural players that reach all the way to Bollywood, have foreshadowed the size of the effort being made for a dynamic presence, which will promote the relationship between the two countries, and which will illuminate the new course of India”.

On her side the Ambassador of India in Greece, Mrs Shamma Jain, stressed that India will be among the top 3 global economic powers in the next 10-15 years.

“This is the New India that will be promoted at the 84th Thessaloniki International Fair. An India representing 55% of the global IT – BPM (Information Technology – Business Process Management) outsourcing business activity for the financial year 2018 (worth $185-$190 US million) and the largest provider of generic medicinal products in the world (covering 40% of the generic medicinal product market of the USA, as well as 25% of the overall demand for medicine in the UK) will be present that the 2019 TIF, with Indian companies from the IT and pharmaceutical sectors”, pointed out Ms Shamma Jain.

Companies from a broad range of other important sectors of the economy will also be dynamically present at the 84th TIF, such as: Shipping (logistics and crew placement), space technologies, agriculture and food, tourism, engineering and infrastructure, car parts, textiles, etc.

The President of TIF-Helexpo, Mr Tasos Tzikas, stated that the Honoured Country’s pavilion will be the centre of interest, as is usual at the TIF, while Indian companies have already started expressing great interest in participating in the 84th TIF, a fact that will significantly upgrade bilateral relations.

During the event TIF-Helexpo CEO Mr Kyriakos Pozrikidis also presented the 84th TIF.

05/04/2019 – 11:45

The Detrop-Oenos exhibition “duo” ended with a 27% increase in international trade visitors. For three days, it brought food and beverage professionals together and promoted Greece’s gastronomy and flavours through a number of events.

Detrop and Oenos attracted 700 direct and indirect exhibitors from all over Greece, as well as from Italy, India, FYROM, Turkey, Cyprus, and Germany. The Regions of Central Macedonia, Crete, the Ionian Islands, the Northern Aegean, the Southern Aegean, Eastern Macedonia-Thrace, Central Greece and Western Macedonia were present at the exhibition. Furthermore, approximately 200 international hosted buyers attended Detrop and Oenos, among whom there were group participations from FYROM and Bulgaria, as well as from another 25 countries. The quality and variety of the products at the two exhibitions impressed the international hosted buyers, while an admitted improvement in the quality of the exhibition “duo” was noted by all.

Apart from the exhibition itself, a lot of interest was garnered by the Tastes Discovery Zone with the Tastes Discovery Area, the Tastes Discovery Workshops, and the Wine Pairing Discovery, which were organised in cooperation with the Chef Stories company; the 1st University-Business conference on the food-beverage sector, co-organised by the Department of Business Administration of ATEI of Thessaloniki; while there were impressive events held by Hellenic Artisan Butchers, which included goods’ preparation, bone-sculpting, meat-sculpting, dry ageing, tastings, etc. The 11th International Culinary Competition of South-Eastern Europe and the ‘Favourite Dish’ Television Cooking Competition-a collaboration between ENA Channel and the Chef’s Club – were successfully held in the framework of Detrop-Oenos.

With the completion of Detrop and Oenos, part of the food was provided by the exhibitors to the ‘Smile of the Child’.

At the same time, there was a 15% increase in visitors to the 32nd ‘Athens International Jewellery Show’ International Exhibition for Jewellery, Watches, Precious Stones, Machinery, and Equipment, organised at Metropolitan Expo, in a 12,000 sq. m. area, attracting 250 direct exhibitors from Cyprus, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Turkey, as well as 161 indirect exhibitors from Thailand, USA, Switzerland, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, Japan, Italy, Hong Kong, Germany, France, G. Britain, Finland, Denmark, China, Belgium, Austria, and Australia. The π3 project was especially successful, a collaboration venture in the framework of the exhibition which brought together more than 140 young jewellery designers, artists, fashion designers, photographers, and graphic designers, aiming at creating collaborative art & design products.

At the same time, Furnidec / The Interiors Show left its mark once again on the furniture and decoration sector. It was organised in Athens for the first time at MEC Paiania, after years, marking a new, dynamic beginning. Greece’s greatest furniture manufacturers also attended the exhibition, as did everyone from the world of decoration. The exhibition hosted, among others, trade visitors from all over Greece in the framework of the established hosted buyers programme. The goal of Furnidec / The Interiors Show was to achieve a complete promotion of made-in-Greece furniture.

12/03/2019 – 11:36